Perfect Strangers
by vittorina0727
Summary: AU: Mercedes Jones was a driven and hard-working girl that found herself stuck in the complicated world of Ivy League schools. Sam Evans has had a privileged life where he has always been the center of attention. What is going to happen when these two opposite forces of nature collide? Will love find the way to them or the pressures of social elitism will keep them apart?
1. Chapter 1

Hi... This is me with a crazy idea that just popped my head like 4 hours ago. To be honest I don't know from where this came from and where am I heading with this. I just had to write. I don't know how good or bad it is but your reviews or the lack of them will let me know.

I am posting this on my own... No Beta, no help... just me, myself and my brain. Please forgive any spelling or grammar mistake that you might see.

Welcome to my crazy fan-fiction brain.

Please, Please, Please... Leave me some love, hate or anything!

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Chapter 1

Mercedes Jones was a very exceptional girl. She was driven, she knew what she wanted since an early age and she had a plan drawn to achieve all her goals. She wanted to create the life she always wanted, not because she was a maliciously ambitious bitch but because struggling has been part of her upbringing and she wanted something better for herself. She graduated high school at the top of her class and earned her free ride to college with an academic scholarship. Walking into the Yale University world was an out of the world experience for her because never in her life she thought that Ms. Small Town Mercedes was going to be able to make it into an Ivy League School. Even though social elitism is one of the characteristics that distinguish the schools that are part of the Ivy League, Mercedes found a very awesome group of friends that never saw her differently because she came from a different social stratum than them. In the contrary, they were always making her feel welcome into their lives and like she belonged with them. At this point in her life, Mercedes felt like everything was going exactly the way she wanted.

"Hey Mercedes!"

"_Hola Santana, como estas?"_ Mercedes answered back, trying her best to sound like she was perfectly fluent in Spanish. Mercedes was on her way to the library when Santana Lopez, her feisty Latina friend, ran into her.

"I'm good. That accent is getting better and better. Next time my_ abuela _sees you she's going to be very proud of her adoptive _nieta._" Santana replied with her particular teasing smile.

"You know me, I am very dedicated. There's a reason I'm here." Mercedes proudly answered.

"I know, I know." Santana said tangling her arm with her dear friend's arm. "Let's meet the other girls."

Mercedes stopped her tracks, making Santana almost stumble and fall. "I can't meet the girls."

"Why?" Santana said rolling her eyes. "What can be more interesting than having lunch with us?" Santana turned her head to look at her friend sporting a mischievous grin. "Don't tell me you finally found some hot foreign exchange student to tap this ass?" Santana added smacking her friend ass in front of some other students, who rapidly looked at them weirdly.

"Really Santana! You have to smack my ass in front of a bunch of strangers?" Santana snickered. "To answer your question; no, I don't have a hot date with a guy. I have a date with all my books and my notes. I have an exam in a couple of days and I still don't feel ready." Mercedes told her friend. "You know how important is for me to keep my grades and with this new part-time job I had to get to make some money my studying time has been cut slightly, which means less social life for me." She added sadly.

"That's ok, Mercy. Promise me you will call me later."

"Promise."

The friends went separated ways afterwards.

Mercedes was just like any other 18-year old, she wanted to enjoy life but at the same time she was not like the other 18-year old students that surrounded her at Yale and she had to work a bit harder than the rest of them to make her dreams come true. What she did not know was that a force of nature in the form of a young guy was going to turn her world upside down.

Meanwhile, in another area of the university was a young guy trying his best to avoid the life his parents chose for him. Sam Evans was a charming but snobbish southern boy who came from a wealthy southern family from Tennessee that built their fortune and name with a lot of sweat and hard work but forgot to show their little ones the sense of humility. With his good looks, personality and deep pockets, Sam portrayed himself as this real-life Ken but instead of letting himself being played with, he played with people's emotions as he pleased and when things were not going his way he tried to buy his way through life. For Sam Evans money was power, access and popularity. He was not a relationship's fan and for that reason, he had many girl friends but not a girlfriend. He believed in freedom and tying himself down with a girl meant dealing with too much drama he was not ready to handle. However, deep inside this young foolish man lived a dreamer that wanted to become a world-famous comic book illustrator instead of the lawyer his parents wanted him to be. Scared to vocalize his dreams and getting his parents' rejection, he decided to go with the flow and enjoy the other wonders of his privileged life.

"So Sam, how was the weekend getaway?" His friend Finn Hudson, another utterly stuck-up guy from Ohio, whose stepfather was the newly elected Senator Burt Hummel, asked him as he approached him in the students parking lot.

"It was good." He nonchalantly said.

"Just good? I mean, you went on an escapade with Rachel Berry and you return saying that it was just good. There's something wrong in your head." Finn quipped.

"I mean it and don't ask for details because you won't get them." Sam replied locking his Range Rover.

"Come on dude, you have to give me a little something." Finn insisted.

"It's not a gentlemen's thing to speak about his previous lovers." Sam replied as he waved at some girls that were desperately waving at him. He could not help but chuckle at the squeaks the girls made after his gesture.

"My senses are telling me that sex with Rachel Berry was plain bad." Finn teased.

"Think whatever you want, Hudson. My lips are sealed." Sam said while getting his cellphone out of his pocket. "I have to run. I 'm supposed to meet this nerd at the library for a study meeting and I'm already twenty minutes late. Meet me for lunch?"

"Sure!" Finn answered and they parted ways.

As Sam made his way to library, he felt like a celebrity. Everybody approached him even for stupid stuff and no matter how much it could irritate him; he always kept his charming smile because he wanted the attention anyways. As he approached the library and he found himself in a less crowded area, he could not help but wonder about his long-lost dream of becoming a renowned illustrator in the comic world. He remembered of how much he enjoyed spending his summers hidden the attic of his house, drawing and creating all the stories he wanted to put together. Distracted by his thoughts, he did not realize he stumbled with someone who was going to change his life forever.

"Excuse me?" A very frustrated Mercedes spat as she saw him walking away not caring about stumbling with her and knocking down her belongings.

"Excuse you!" Sam replied indifferently.

"Didn't your parents teach you to be gentleman and help others when something like this happens?" Mercedes asked loudly, getting the attention of some of the other students that were around.

Sam turned around to face the fiery female. "Yes, they did. I choose not to do it occasionally. Unluckily for you, today is one of those days and for what I can see, you have two functioning hands. Help yourself."

"Asshole." She muttered as she finished collecting her things.

"No. I'm Sam Evans." He said as she stood up.

"As if I cared to know." She said as she walked by him and started to look for a table.

Dumbfounded by her attitude, Sam Evans decided to follow her. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are." She said sweetly and he smiled thinking she had softened. "You are an insensitive, snobbish asshole that thinks that money and looks can buy you your way through life. Am I wrong?"

He was speechless. How can a girl that he have never seen in his life could read him as easy as reading a children's book? For the first time in a long time, Sam Evans did not know how to retreat himself out of a situation without flaunting who he was or what he had.

"Are you done bothering me? Unlike you, I come to the library to study and not to make spectacles." Mercedes harshly said taking her seat.

Sam was muted. He walked away from Mercedes' table and started to look for the nerdy he was supposed to meet thirty minutes ago. He glanced back at her and instantly felt something inexplicable running through his veins but he could not pinpoint what it was. In that moment, he realized something.

"Dammit! I never asked for her name."

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**A/N: **What do you think? Good or Bad? Yes or no? Should I kill it or should I give it a try?

Like I said before... this idea just came to me and I have no clue where my brain is going to take me and how long is going to take me to organize this. Also, I still have to tackle the mess I created in **_You Belong With Me_**... Bear with me... Please!

Until Next Time...

XOXO


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter two.

I want to say thank you for all the amazing response I got on the first chapter. Your reviews are the ignition my imagination needs to run wild. To all the people who have decided to follow or favorite the story, THANKS!

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game.

Don't forget to leave a review...

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 2

After her encounter with Sam, Mercedes went down to business and concentrated on her study session. She barely looked around to see what was happening around her. Her grades were one of the most important things because she needed to keep her scholarship and she wanted to be a good contender for the law school admissions run later in her college life. A few hours later, Mercedes was on her way to her dorm to get ready for work. With her iPod on shuffle and listening to her favorite jams, Mercedes felt ready for the work shift ahead of her. Working as a server at one of the trendiest cafés nearby school had its benefits. Since she started working there around two weeks ago, she has managed to get good tips, to have a reasonable schedule to juggle her academic life properly and she has enjoyed getting the chance to know the people from around the town and from around the campus.

On her way to work, Mercedes remembered the incident with Sam and how things turned out between them. She knew she was right to ask him to help her after he stumbled with her but everything else was a mess. She did not know him, yet she spat a very certain and clear opinion about him based on practically nothing. Yes, what he was wearing probably cost more than what she could earn in two months, still, she did not know a thing about him to tell him the things she did.

"What's on your mind, Mercedes?" Her co-worker and friend, Joe Hart, asked her. Joe was a few years older than Mercedes and was known around town as Teen Jesus because he was a devoted Christian.

"Oh… Hey… Joe! It's nothing. I was just thinking about something silly." Mercedes answered while putting her purse inside her locker. "I had this strange incident with a guy at the library earlier."

"Interesting." He said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Get you head out of the gutter, Joe." Mercedes said playfully hitting him in the shoulder.

"Hey! Just because I'm Christian doesn't mean I don't know about things." He answered rubbing his shoulder.

"Anyways, it's not what you think. What happened was that I was on my way to the library and this guy I have never seen in my life bumped with me and knocked my things down. I asked him to help me and he didn't. I called him an asshole, sorry for the curse; he answered me telling me his name and I just stormed away from him." She recounted as they walked to their work area.

"That's not a big thing."

"The thing is that he followed me and he asked me if I did not know who he was and I told him that he was just some snobbish asshole that thought that looks and money can get him away with everything." Mercedes said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh… That changes everything. Why did you say that? I mean, if you don't know who he is. In what exactly did you base that judgment about him?"

"I don't know. Perhaps, because of the way he was dressed."

"That's not a valid reason."

"I know, I know. I was just frustrated at the situation but I regretted what I said as soon as he walked away."

"Don't worry, Mercedes. It's over, you can't turn back time and probably he must have forgotten about everything by now. Just make sure that if you are in the same situation in the future you will act differently."

"I'll try." She said with a shy smile.

"That's my girl!"

XXXXX

During his study session, Sam never concentrated or at least tried to pay attention to his classmate. His mind was replaying what happened with the nameless girl over and over again. He was upset at himself for not getting her name and he wanted to know her name, he needed that information not because he was getting romantically interested in her but because he could not believe, she did not know who he was. _Who in their right mind doesn't know who I am? I am one of the most popular guys around campus and one of the richest. Unbelievable!_ He thought.

"Dude, I'm sorry but this study session is no longer working. We have been here for the longest time and I still don't get a thing." Sam said.

"I'm sorry. Am I not making myself clear?" His classmate asked.

"No. You are making yourself perfectly clear. It's me who doesn't care about a word your saying."

"But-"

"Don't worry about. I will find my way to score an A." He interjected as he stood up and left his classmate stunned.

As he walked to the library's exit, he tried to look for the girl who a few hours ago left him speechless but she was nowhere to been seen.

"_Shit! Where is she? I need to find her!"_ He whispered to himself.

While he tried to glance around one last time to see if maybe she moved to another table, someone approached him.

"Hey handsome!" A girl said seductively in his ear.

Sam rolled his eyes and slowly turned around to see who the girl was. The least he wanted to do at that moment was to deal with girls that were not his unknown library girl. "What do you want, Quinn?"

"That depends on you." She said placing her hands on his chest.

He gently removed her hands off his chest and said, "Quinn… Baby…" Quinn was getting oversentimental and she started to blink as rapidly as her heartbeats. "When are you going to understand that I am not interested in you and that I will never be? Stop following me; stop proposing ideas about us because we are never going to happen. Just a little warning, if you do it one more time I will get a restriction order against you." Sam said close to her ear. He pulled away from her personal space, alluringly smiled at her, blew her a kiss and left her standing there with her eyes full of tears.

After his fluke with Quinn, Sam left campus for his lunch meeting with Finn. Since he did not know where to find him, he called him. After a couple of rings, Finn picked up the call.

"What's up, Evans?" A cheerful Finn answered.

"Where you at, dude?" Sam said dryly.

"I'm at the café down Yale Blvd. Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Sam said annoyed.

"Why are you mad?"

"Nothing major. I've just been bumping into people." Sam spat.

"Care to share?" Finn asked curiously.

"I'll tell you everything as soon as I get there." Sam answered and hung up.

Sam drove to the café, dropped his SUV at the valet and walked into the café. He has not been there in the past weeks so; he was unaware of the changes around the place. The host walked him to where Finn was seated and as soon as he put his butt on the seat the interrogation began.

"With whom did you run into today?"

"Dude, I bumped into this girl. Wow! Dude, I can't get her out of my mind." He said running his fingers through his hair.

"Damn! Could she be the one?" Finn teased.

Sam gave him the death glare. "Oh… Fuck off, Hudson! What I mean is that she's like no other girl I've seen before."

"So, she's someone we don't know, right?"

"Yes! She's just different to the rest of the silly girls that we know." Sam said too smiley for Finn liking.

"What's so special about her?"

"Everything! The fact that she speaks what's on her mind not caring about anything. Dude, she insulted me and honestly I was flattered."

"What?" Finn said astonished.

"She left me speechless and I didn't even care or try to fight her."

"Sam Evans got bitten by the love bug." Finn quipped.

"Again… Fuck off! Anyways, the other person I ran into to was Quinn."

"Oh shit! Quinn Fabray, the paranoid stalker?"

"Damn Finn… can you be more cruel?" Sam said laughing.

"Whatever." Finn said uncaringly.

In that moment, Sam looked around the restaurant and he saw the mystery girl who was driving his day upside down. He felt the same stinging feeling he felt when he walked away from her earlier. His heart was beating faster than normal and suddenly his hands started to sweat.

"Sam, are you ok?" Finn asked concerned.

"I'll be right back." Sam answered and left the table.

The closer he got to her, the more nervous he got and still he could not understand why. She was just a girl, a girl he has never seen in his life yet, she was the girl that called him up on his bullshit and did not care about not knowing him at all.

"Hey!" He said.

Mercedes took a deep breath and slowly turned around. She recognized that voice from earlier in the day and she was surprised to run into him twice in one day.

"Umm… Hi!" Mercedes said. "Look, I am going to keep it short because as you can see I'm on the clock. I'm sorry for what happened earlier at library. I don't know you and I said some things I shouldn't so, please accept my apology." Mercedes said sincerely.

Sam surprised to see her so calm started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Mercedes asked confused.

"I don't care about your stupid apology. Actually, I felt flattered with your insults. I only came up because I want you to give me your name. I need the name of the girl who didn't give two flying fucks about insulting a stranger." Sam said shamelessly.

"You have got to be kidding me." Mercedes replied annoyingly confused.

"Nope." He said emphasizing the last syllable. "Are you going to give me your name?" He added with a lopsided grin.

Mercedes was fuming. She could not believe she even tried to apologize to him. He did not deserve an apology or anything like that. He was a douchebag plain and simple and she was going to play his game. She looked at him charmingly and smiled.

"Yes I am going to tell you my name. My name is… You can rot in hell!"

As soon as she said that, she turned around and went back to her duties leaving him speechless once again.

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****A/N: **Thoughts? Yes/No? Liked it or Hate it? Should I keep this alive or should I kill it?

Your reviews will let me know.

Until Next Time...

XOXO


	3. Chapter 3

Hello Readers! Here's the new update... I really hope you guys like it...

I want to thanks everybody that has taken the chance to read the story. For the people that reviewed it... Thank you! Also, thanks for the follows and the favs! :)

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game.

Don't forget to leave a review...

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 3

She did it again. Mercedes Jones has managed to keep Sam Evans out of words one more time but this time she was a little angrier than hours before because this time she tried her best to play it nice and Sam pissed her off beyond all bearing. _Who the fuck does he think he is? Coming to my workplace demanding my name just because he felt flattered by my insults._ She thought.

"I mean… Come on, twice on the same day! What have I done to deserve this torture?" She said a bit too loud.

"Is everything alright, Mercedes?" A concerned Joe said as he approached her.

"Yeah, everything is freaking perfect!" She responded annoyed.

"That was him, right?" Joe continued interrogating.

"Yes."

Joe just stared at her intently and smiled.

Mercedes looked at him confused. "Why are you smiling?"

"For nothing in particular." Joe responded. Something about their interaction told him that something very interesting was going to start between these two hotheaded young adults and he was ready to witness everything in the front row. "We should get back to work, girl! We are losing precious time and tips chatting here."

Mercedes took a deep breath, wished for Sam to be gone and walked back to main dining area to take care of her customers.

Meanwhile in the dining area, Sam was trying to finish his lunch as fast as he could to get the hell out of that café after his disaster with Mercedes, but between every bite, he inadvertently looked for her. All he wanted was to get her name but as usual, his cocky attitude got in the way of his pursuit the big difference was that this time he was going to leave the place empty-handed. It was the first time in years that he felt so defeated.

"Sam, are you ever going to tell me what happened with that waitress?" Finn asked inquiringly.

Sam looked at him crossly. "How about we eat and get the fuck out here?"

"So, you are not planning on telling me? Is she part of your charitable sex list?" Finn said

"Yes and no." Sam answered humorless. "Since I'm done, I'm out. See you later. This late lunch is on me today." He said as he stood up, pulled out his wallet out of his pocket and dropped a hundred on the table.

While Sam waited for his SUV, Finn choked down his Panini sandwich and stormed out of the café when his brain realized why Sam refused to tell him what was going on.

"She's the girl you met at library, right?" He shouted as he connected the dots.

Sam just stared at him. "If you mean bumping into her, knocking her things down, getting her mad twice in one day and not even knowing her name… then, yes… that's the girl I met at the library."

"She's pretty." Finn pointed out.

"She's ok." Sam lied, trying his best to hide his sudden interest in her. "I mean she's just a waitress." He added.

"For that reason, you need to stay away from her. She's probably some sleazy girl looking for her golden ticket." Finn said.

"Just like your mom did with Senator Hummel." Sam recalled.

Finn's face became pale. Sam hit him right where he hated because Finn came from a poor family, according to Sam's standards. His dad died in combat and his mom was a waitress at a local diner back in Ohio. One day their lives changed when Finn's mother met State Senator, Burt Hummel. Rumors about their relationship have always been present but despite everything, the couple has remained strong. Regarding his past, Finn has spoken so little about it; everybody thinks he has been a rich boy all his life.

"You should not talk about stuff like that when you are the living proof the _'American Dream'_." Sam said simulating quotes.

Finn rolled his eyes at him. "God… you are such an ass."

"I know, but being my friend gives you the status and popularity you want. Deal with it!" Sam added, got on his SUV and left.

The trip to Sam's apartment was full of thinking. In one day, he has made a girl mad in two different occasions and that same girl was driving him insane because she remained nameless to him. He needed a name because he already had a face to remember, a very pretty one. This girl was like no other; she had dark skin, she was short and she has curves in all the right places. However, besides the obvious physical attributes what captivated Sam was her personality. She was outspoken, spirited and hard to impress. She was someone that was worth fighting.

In that moment, Sam shook his head and said to himself, "What am I thinking about? She is just some girl and I don't know anything about her."

XXXXX

Back at the restaurant, Mercedes carried on with her day as if nothing ever happened. She decided to forget all about Sam Evans and about both of her encounters with him because she was going to try her best never to cross paths with him again. During closing time, Joe noticed that Mercedes was retracted and quieter than other days. He approached her in hopes to talk to her and find out what was bothering her.

"Are you alright?" Joe asked while helping her to clean the drinks station.

"Yes, why wouldn't I?" Mercedes replied confused.

"It's just that after your interaction with that boy earlier today your attitude changed." He said worriedly.

"Really? I didn't notice. I'm fine… Actually, I forgot all about him." She said casually.

"I'm just going to pretend that I believe you."

"I mean it, Joe."

"Sure… Anyways, just promise me that you are going to keep trying to be nice to him next time you see him."

Mercedes looked at him and smiled. "Joe, there won't be a next time."

"That's what you say but life can decide otherwise."

"Whatever, Joe. I'm done talking about him. I'll see you later." Mercedes replied mortified.

Mercedes walked to the lockers area, picked up her stuff and left the café. She was exhausted but honestly, it was not because of work. A certain blonde-haired person was occupying her thoughts no matter how hard she tried to trail her thoughts to other things. Distracted in her thoughts, she did not realize that someone was following her.

"I have learned me to repent the sin of disobedient opposition. To you and your behest, I am enjoined and beg your pardon."

Mercedes froze when she heard that voice. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Life has decided to torture me using this Shakespearean phony guy." She slowly turned around to face the newest pain on her ass. "You think that quoting Shakespeare is going to get you some brownie points on my book?"

"No, but at least I got your attention." He said placing his hands in his pockets.

"What do you want?" She asked him exasperated.

"The same thing I've trying to get from you since our first meeting, your name." He replied.

Without saying a word, she turned around and started to walk away from him. Mercedes was not in the mood to deal with this human being. All she wanted in that moment was to get home, get a shower and rest, but life had other plans for her.

"Wait! Please, wait!" He said trying to get her attention one more time, but she kept walking. He ran towards her and stood in front of her. "Look… I'm trying here."

"Trying what?" She spat, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tapping her foot on the sidewalk.

"I'm trying to apologize. Didn't you pay any attention to the quote?"

For the first time in the day and despite the low lighting, Mercedes paid good attention to Sam. He was good looking, fit and tall. He could easily pass for a model. However, he needed to work on his personality. "I did pay attention to it. Apology accepted." She said as she walked by him. "Go back to your life and let me live mine, please."

"I can't and I won't" He answered, making her stop her tracks once again.

"What the hell have I done to deserve this?" She asked without turning around.

He smiled. "Meet me."

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**A/N: **Thoughts? Yes/No? Oh, Life and its precious games. I wonder... where are these two heading?

Can't wait to read the reactions...

Until next time,

XOXO


	4. Chapter 4

New update here... I really hope you guys like it...

Once again, thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favs. You guys rock!

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game and actually I haven't proofread this chapter. I'll do it later!

Don't forget to leave a review...

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 4

It has been two weeks since they day Sam and Mercedes met. Fourteen days and Sam has not been able to crack the secret of his library girl. He has tried everything from going almost every day to the café to going to the library and still he had nothing, no name and no information whatsoever. Actually, he had not been able to get close to her because she has avoided him like a plague and everyone at the café has helped her on that. Inside Yale campus, it has been even worse because he has been at the library every day during his free time and it was as if she forgot she needed to study in a place like the library. This girl was becoming the quest of his life.

"Dude, how you been? I haven't seen you since our last lunch." Finn said as he sat down. "What are you doing at the library?"

"Studying." Sam replied without taking his sight off his book.

"Since when do you do that?"

"Since always." Sam answered sarcastically.

"Liar. You're still looking for that waitress, right?"

Sam was annoyed by Finn's twenty-question game but also he did not want to give him an answer. Sam remained silent and went back to his reading.

"Evans, what the fuck? She's just a waitress."

"I bet that's what people still say about your mother."

"Leave my mother out of this."

"Oh, so sensitive!" Sam said in a mocking tone.

"Dude, I don't talk about your mother. Stop bringing my mom into our conversations every time I bring your waitress girl."

"Stop telling me what to do, Hudson." Sam said sternly.

"I do it because I care about you."

"You do?" Sam looked at him with false amazement. "Enlighten me."

"Dude, I'm just saying that you are neglecting your friends for a girl that's simply not interested."

"What do you mean neglecting? My only real friend is Mike and I talk to him almost every day." Sam said.

"Ouch." Finn replied mortified.

"Whatever… You'll get over it."

"What about Rachel?"

"What about her?" Sam asked irritated.

"She's been looking for you."

"I've been hiding from her." He confessed.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not interested anymore."

"You like this waitress chick, don't you?" Finn asked in an accusatory tone.

"No." Sam answered harshly.

"Prove it!" Finn said in a challenging tone.

"I don't have to prove you anything."

"Whatever, Evans! You can't deny she has ignited something in you."

"Fuck off, Hudson. Go fuck Rachel if that is what you want and leave me the fuck alone." Sam spat, leaving the library in a heartbeat.

Since Sam had another thirty minutes before his class, he texted his friend, Mike Chang.

"_Dude, where you at?"_

Sam and Mike had been friends since high school and their bond grew stronger when they started college. Mike was a talented dancer but he was studying Political Science in hopes on getting into Law School to make his father happy. Even though, Mike came from a wealthy family he has always been nice to everybody and it was something that Sam tended to find strange.

After a couple of minutes, Sam's cellphone buzzed.

"_I'm at the Social Studies' building with a friend. What's up?"_

"_Nothing. Meet you in 5."_

Five minutes later and Sam found Mike at one of the hallways talking to a girl very familiar to him. "It can't be." He thought. The closer he got, the faster his heart was beating. Sam was completely sure that by the way people were staring at him, they were probably listening to his heartbeats. "Control yourself, Sam. She's just a girl." He kept saying to himself in a futile attempt to control his emotions.

"Hey dude!" Mike greeted him.

"Hey!" Sam bashfully answered. Sam could feel the girl staring at him intently and suddenly he started to feel like his heart was skipping some beats.

"Sam, let me introduce you to the smartest and most awesome girl around, Mercedes Jones." Sam slowly faced the girl and instantly got lost in her eyes. Until that day, she was just a face, a face he wanted to remember but now he had her name, the name he was craving to know since that day at the library.

"Nice to meet you, Mercedes!" Sam said to the girl, who was giving him the 'don't act like you already know me' look.

"Nice to meet you. Mike said your name was?" She indifferently said.

"My name is Sam Evans."

"Oh!" She smiled and his whole world lighted up.

"Sam… umm… Can you stop eye-fucking her?"

Sam's face turned bloodshot red. After an awkward conversation that lasted no more than a minute, Mercedes left the two friends and went to class.

"Sam, is there something I need to know?" Mike asked interestedly. "I mean… You were looking at my friend like she was the only girl you want to be with."

"There's nothing to say."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! Umm… Well, there's something."

"What is it?"

"I'm thinking about getting a job."

"A job? Are you sick? Are you trolling me right now?"

"I mean it. I think is time for Sam Evans to get his first job."

"Where?"

"The café at Yale Blvd."

XXXXX

A couple of the days later, Sam walked into the café but this time he went in as a job applicant and not as a customer. After a very interesting interview, where he had to use every ounce of his charm and even say a little white lie, he got the job. Sam was ecstatic about it because he was going to be around Mercedes more often.

"Hey Joe!" A cheerful Mercedes said as she walked into the café.

"Hello Mercedes! Shuester has a surprise for you."

"Really?" She said beaming.

"Oh yes… And you are definitely going to like it." Joe added sarcastically, making her raise her eyebrow in a sign of suspicion. Joe laughed when she saw the change on her facial expression. He knew in his heart that it was going to be an interesting day.

As Mercedes approached the to-go sandwich station, she could not believe what she was seeing.

"Good day!" Her boss, William Shuester, chirped.

"There's nothing good about today." Mercedes rejected bitterly.

"Why?" Her boss asked lost.

"New employee." She said pointing at Sam.

"Oh Sam! He just started today."

"I can see that." Mercedes said side-eying her boss. "Why did you hire him?"

"He came highly recommended."

"By who?" She asked in horror.

"You." Will replied and walked away.

Mercedes was mad beyond comprehension. She walked to the sandwich station and took a deep breath before speaking.

"You used me as your reference?"

"Yep." He said without any hint of mortification.

"Why?"

"Because you're the only I know here and I need the job." He said looking at her keenly.

"But… you're rich. You don't need this job."

"How do you know that?" Sam asked her quizzically.

"Mike told me." She answered frankly.

"So… You have been asking stuff about me. Interesting." Sam said in a conceited tone.

"Don't get so full of yourself."

"Too late."

Mercedes grunted. "Is this like a social experiment? Are you purposely trying to drive me insane?"

"You love to ask questions, right?" Sam quipped. "Look… My parents cut me off and I need to make some money."

"Bull-"

Sam interrupted her by sweetly saying, "I don't think is nice of you to be cursing during work hours."

"Whatever. I don't have time to deal with you. Just stay out of my way, ok?" She requested him.

"I'll try." He whispered close to her ear. She pushed him away from her and then, walked away from him. He could not hide his satisfactory smile. He loved driving her to the edge of her emotions.

"Mercedes, where are you going?" Shuester asked her making her stop her tracks

"To check which section I have today."

"You're not working on the floor today. You're on training duties." He informed her.

"What? No! Get someone else." She whined.

"Mercedes, you're training Sam." Her boss ordered her.

Mercedes looked at Sam, who was joyfully smiling at her. "Oh God! Please, kill me now." She whispered as she got closer to her worst living nightmare.

* * *

**A/N: **Sam got the name and the job... What do you guys think is going to happen next?

Can't wait to see the reactions and to read your thoughts about where do you guys think these two are heading?

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	5. Chapter 5

Hello... Hello! Here's another update. I'm quite inspired. The pace on this update changes a bit but I really hope you guys like it.

Thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favs... I'm truly happy!

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game. I kinda went over the chapter but I did not fixed the mistakes. I promise I will do it later.

Don't forget to leave me some love, hate or whatever you actually feel on the review!

Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 5

"Santana, you would think that after being the unkindest person to him, he'd get the message to stay away but no, not in his damn mind! He went to the café almost every day in the past two weeks, every time I wanted to go to the library he was there and now he is working with me and I had to train him today. What have I done to deserve this torture?" A visible upset Mercedes questioned, while her friend Santana was rummaging through the TV cable guide in hopes to find something to watch.

"I don't know what you did, but I have to tell you… I think Sam Evans is kinda hot." Santana replied, while adjusting herself on the couch. She found an episode of the 'Real Housewives' and she was going to spend the last minutes of her day enjoying it.

"Santana, you think he is hot? He's not! He is so affected. Also, you're a lesbian, you shouldn't be telling me stuff like that."

"Being a lesbian doesn't make me blind. I have to admit there's something about that blonde that makes my lady loins tingle." Santana confessed.

"Oh my god, Santana! I'm traumatized." Mercedes said as she covered her ears with her hands.

"Whatever, Mercedes! I can see he's already invading your thoughts." Santana teased.

"Did I tell you that he was quoting Shakespeare like some Shakespearean connoisseur? It's like a hobby of his! I hate hypocrites like that."

Santana carefully looked at her friend. She knew that Mercedes was sincerely irritated by Sam's almost permanent presence in her life, but she knew that deep inside Mercedes was fighting something she was just not ready to declare. "So, you wouldn't take him up to the library stacks?"

Mercedes looked at her very sexually active friend in horror. "No. Never! Not him nor anyone because going at it in the dusty stacks of the library is just disgusting."

"Then, you wouldn't mind if I go straight for a little while until I take him there, right?" Santana said looking for some sort of reaction from her.

"Nope, I wouldn't mind at all." Mercedes answered without interest.

"Really?" Santana asked questioningly.

"Santana, you say stuff like that about every hot person you see." Mercedes replied casually.

"So, you're admitting he's hot?" Santana remarked.

"I'm done having this conversation. I'm going to bed. I need to go to the library first thing in the morning this Literature class is kicking me in the butt."

"You should ask Sam for help."

"Yeah… Sure! In your dreams. See you sometime tomorrow."

"Sweet Dreams, future Mrs. Evans!"

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Nah, I have Brittany for that."

"TMI, TMI, TMI!"

XXXXX

"Good morning, my sweet Mercedes!" Sam said as he approached her table.

"You can't simply wait to make my day a living hell, right?"

"I just stopped by to say hello, darlin'. Nothing more, nothing less." Sam replied. "See you at work."

"So, you decided to stay?"

"Why wouldn't I? Like I told you yesterday… I _need _the job."

"Okay, okay… Whatever! Just promise me that you won't be a pain in the ass today."

Sam wickedly smiled at her. "Can't make any promises."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and went back to her literature reading, which was driving her crazy.

XXXXX

"Are you trying to deliberately get both of us fired?" A very upset Mercedes asked Sam.

"No." Sam honestly answered.

"Then, follow the instructions."

"I am."

"Sam, you can't differentiate the lettuce from the cabbage. How in the world you are going to prepare a sandwich for a customer?"

Sam just shrugged.

"You're useless."

"That's not the way to talk to your trainee."

"Whatever."

"Excuse me!" A customer interrupted them.

"What?" They spat in unison.

"I would like to order a turkey sandwich."

"By all means… Sam, would you like to take care of her?"

"Sure." Sam said in some sort of panic. If he could not differentiate lettuce from cabbage, figuring out which one was the turkey ham on his own was going to one of his biggest challenges. In front of him rested a variety of hams and he could not figure out which one was the turkey ham.

"Sorry, but I think we are out of turkey ham today." Sam said trying his best to get rid of the untimely customer.

The girl looked at him in shock. "Dude, there's like five pounds of turkey ham right here."

Mercedes was enjoying this moment. She snickered at the sight of his silly facial expression. She walked by him and whispered, "See what I meant when I said you were useless." In a matter of a minute or two Mercedes dispatched the customer and he was stunned by how gracious she was with the customer and how annoyingly difficult she was with him.

"Wow!"

"What?" Mercedes asked confused.

"You were so polite to her but when it comes to me, you are so mean."

"I just don't like you."

"Why don't you like me? You don't even know me." Sam questioned.

"And I don't wanna get to know you."

"Why not? I'm super awesome."

"I bet you are." She said sarcastically.

"Go out with me." Sam proposed.

"Why would I do that?" She asked surprised by his proposition.

"That's how people get to know each other, Mercedes."

"When are you going to understand that I don't wanna get to know you?"

"I will understand it… the day you go out with me."

She laughed unsmilingly. "Get back to work."

"Is that a maybe?"

"I'm just going to pretend that this conversation never happened." She answered and got back to work.

During closing time, Sam was in charge of the trash and cleaning the floor and hosing the floor mats while Mercedes was in charge of cleaning the tables. In that time of the night, Shuester let the employees take over the jukebox on the main dining room to help them get done faster with their cleaning duties.

"Mercedes, it's your turn tonight. Put some good music on." Joe said from the bar.

"I'll try." Mercedes replied.

Mercedes walked to the jukebox and looked over the catalog. She found the first song she wanted to hear, put the quarter in the machine and pressed her selection. As soon as the song began, Mercedes started to dance around the tables while cleaning them. Sam looked at her and got lost in her magnetism once again.

"Dude, stop staring at her. She's going to kick your ass." Joe advised him.

"Do you know this song?"

"Yeah, it's one of her favorites. It's called 'I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You' by Marc Cohn."

"I had never heard it before."

"I promise you that you will hear it every time Mercedes is in charge of the jukebox."

Sam smiled at her. He did not know if it was the song or seeing her so peaceful that made him wish that he were certain of what he really wanted with her. He was at the top of the social pyramid but his recent adventures were slowly pushing him down and honestly, he was not ready to be a nobody when he has been a somebody all his life.

After Mercedes finished with her duties, she left the café through the back door only to bump into Sam again. He was hosing down the mats with Joe's help.

"Hey." Sam said when he saw her.

"You did OK in there." She said trying her best to be nice to him.

"You can't be serious, can you?" He asked surprised.

"Well… By 'OK' I mean screwing up everyone's order."

"Yeah." He said blushingly.

"You'll be fine. It's just a matter of time. We all went through that." She said and smiled.

"Mercedes, my offer still stands. Go out with me." Sam insisted. "We are both off from work this Saturday. I promise I won't bother you again if you accept and things go sour or something."

Mercedes stared at him silent.

"I… I… I'm actually kinda busy this Saturday." She said and left in a hurry.

"Oh dear!" Joe finally said after seeing their interaction.

"What?" Sam said as he proceeded to clean the last mat.

"I believe you just got rejected and by the look on your face, I can tell it is the first time this has ever happen to you."

"You're right! To be honest, it hurts like a motherfucker."

"What's with people and the curses?"

"My apologies, Joe."

"Whatever. Sam, can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Have you ever been attracted to a girl like her?"

"What do you mean like her?"

"Completely opposite to you in every single aspect."

"No."

"No wonder the chances of a relationship between yourself and Mercedes are not promising at this rate. You two are of completely different calibers."

"Joe, just because I come from a wealthy family and she isn't, doesn't mean she's not important."

"You need to learn to understand that the world doesn't revolve around you, Sam. The higher caliber I was referring to was hers. She's a really special girl, Sam and if you want to win her over you need to stop the pretenses and start being yourself, because I know that there's more to you than what we know."

"Joe, I really don't know what I want."

"Strike number one." Joe said shaking his head.

* * *

**A/N: **Will Sam be able to decipher what he wants with Mercedes? Is he being honest to himself and to Mercedes, or is he just playing a game? Is Mercedes letting her guard down with him?

These two are a giant hot mess...

Let me know what you guys think it should happen next...

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	6. Chapter 6

New update here! Wow, I'm on a roll... I've been updating almost every other day since I started this story... I have to thank every person who has read the story and has decided to review it, follow it or favorite it. You guys are amazing.

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game and actually I haven't proofread this chapter. I'll do it when I get back home from work.

Don't forget to leave a review...

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 6

"Shit!" Mercedes whined a bit too loud.

"What's going on? Are you alright?" Santana asked concerned.

"I got a C on my literature test and I can't afford to have a C on that class. I will lose the scholarship." Mercedes emphasized. "What am I going to do?"

Santana snickered because she knew exactly what Mercedes could do but she also knew Mercedes was going to hate the idea.

"Why are you laughing Santana? I'm telling you something serious."

Santana stopped laughing. "Sorry Mercy, it's just that I am thinking how fate is accommodating things and how timely these accommodations are happening."

"What are you talking about?" Mercedes asked annoyed.

"Mercedes, do you remember what I told you the night we were talking about your literature class? It was one of those random nights I decided to crash at your place. I think you should do that."

In that moment, Mercedes rewound her life tape trying to find that specific event in her brain. After a couple of seconds, the words Santana said that night came back and hit her like a ton of bricks. "Sorry San, but that is not going to happen."

"Why not, Mercy? To achieve our goals in life we have to make sacrifices and let's be honest here, that is not a sacrifice at all."

"It is for me!" Mercedes stressed.

"Oh Please! Stop acting like you are completely disgusted."

"I'm not disgusted. I don't trust, which is a completely different thing."

"Well… Good luck with your sonnets." Santana said putting an end to the issue.

"Those bitches." Mercedes wailed.

XXXXX

After a couple of days of struggling and even missing a work shift trying her best to understand her literature coursework, Mercedes decided it was time to cut the crap and follow Santana's advice, even though Mercedes was not the kind of girl who ask for help on a daily basis.

"Sam, can I ask you something?"

"Are you going to ask me out on a date?" Sam chirped excitedly.

"No!"

"Sucks! I was getting my hopes up."

"Look… you have this strange hobby of quoting Shakespeare on a daily basis since we met and it funny because I am taking a literature class myself and..." She took a deep breath because she was not ready to ask him for what she was going to ask. "I'm not struggling but I think that I'm been graded unfairly and I was wondering since you seem to be-"

"Well-versed." He said interjecting her.

"Yeah, that!"

"Go on."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at him. "Anyways, I was just hoping if you could-"

"Help you." He interjected again.

"No, I don't need help."

"Are you sure? Because it sounded like you were asking for help." Sam said igniting some anger in Mercedes.

"Forget it, ok?" She spat.

"Ok." He replied unconcernedly.

After keeping herself busy with her customers, Mercedes could not help but wonder that she could not risk her scholarship because of a literature class. Getting into Yale and earning that scholarship was the reward of all those years of hard work during high school and she was not ready to let that go.

"Ok, yes! I need your help." She said to Sam while they were on their nightly cleaning duties.

"I'll help you. It's no biggie." Sam said casually.

"Thanks!"

"Only… if you agree to go out with me." He said in a very seductive tone.

"I knew there was a catch."

"You can't blame me for trying. I've been asking you out almost every day only to be turned down every single time. Mercedes, it won't be something fancy, just a coffee. We could come here if that makes you feel more comfortable."

Mercedes remained silent because she was shocked at his persistence. There has been no day since they started working together that he has not ask her out. It was flattering but at the same time it was extremely annoying because besides asking her out on a daily basis, Sam has not shown any real interest in getting to know her on a personal level. He kept all his questions college or work related and it was quite intriguing for her.

"What do you say?" Sam insisted.

"I need your help and if that is the condition, I have no other option… So, I will go out with you."

Sam did a victory dance in front of her and for the first time since they met, she laughed sincerely at his silliness.

XXXXX

For her 'not so fancy' date with Sam, Mercedes stopped by Santana's place to get ready and to have a little pep talk with her that was actually turning into Santana making fun of her for finally agreeing to go on a date with Sam.

"So, you're going out on a date with Sam because that was his condition to help you out?" Santana asked teasingly.

"Yes."

"Yeah, yeah!"

"I swear."

"Admit it! You are curious about this. You wouldn't have accepted if you were not intrigued by the situation. You secretly want a piece of Sam Evans." The feisty Latina quipped.

"No, I don't."

"Deny it all you want, Mercedes. Brittany and I know what's going on in that uptight head of yours. We all have thoughts about all the things we would like him to do to any of us." Santana kept saying, messing with Mercedes brain.

"Whatever! We are only going out for a coffee." Mercedes commented.

"From coffee to sex there's only one step."

"Fuck you."

Santana laughed hysterically at her friend's failed attempt to keep her composure.

XXXXX

After ordering their coffees, Sam and Mercedes sat in one of the secluded booths at the back of the café and fell into an awkward silence that lasted too long for Sam's liking.

"I'm kinda nervous, you know." Sam confessed.

"Really?" She asked while taking a sip of her coffee.

"I just don't want this moment to go from good to uncomfortable because I say something I shouldn't or something like that."

"Just choose your words wisely." She advised him.

"I'll try." He said frankly. "Well… tell me something about you." He continued.

"Umm… I'm Mercedes Jones from Lima, Ohio. I grew up with my uncle, Tom, because my parents died in a car accident when I was little."

"Sorry to hear that."

"It's ok. It was a long time ago."

"You said you're from Lima? My so-called friend Finn is from there."

"Yeah, I know who he is. We went to the same elementary and middle school before his mother married the senator. We were never friends actually."

"Oh… Anyways, what do you like to do?"

"My life is quite boring. I'm not a fan of parties and stuff like that. I spend my days either working or studying. If I do something to break the routine it will be going to the movies or something like that." She recounted, while he looked at her in tender amazement.

"I love movies, mainly the super-heroes ones."

"I'm all about romantic comedies."

"Hopeless romantic?"

"Not exactly, but this type of movies do help me liberate some stress."

The more they talked, the more comfortable they felt around each other. Sam knew Mercedes still had her guard up but at least she was not showing any sign of awkwardness. In his book, they were having a great time and slowly, he was forgetting about the reason he started pursing her and he was finally letting his heart take the route it wanted to take. His brain was not ready to admit it but his heart was beating for one sole reason, Sam Evans was falling in love with Mercedes Jones.

* * *

**A/N: **One down... One to go... What do guys think is going to happen next?

I might have something else ready very soon... Let me see how can I juggle my things today...

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	7. Chapter 7

Hello...New update here! I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did writing it...

Thanks for all the amazing support (reviews, follows and favs). You guys are the best ignition to any writer.

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes. I'm just a silly human playing the writer's game.

Don't forget to leave some love...

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter 7

Sam and Mercedes were in their own little world, topic after topic they were getting to know each other better and better. They were revealing information that not even their closest friends knew about them. The comfort they felt around each other was undeniable. For Sam, getting to know Mercedes more thoroughly made him feel like he was meeting his match made in heaven while Mercedes felt like she was meeting a completely different Sam. In Mercedes' case, she was happy to see this different side of him. It made him look like a real human being with real feelings instead of the arrogant and spoiled southern brat she first met.

"Tell me about you, Sam."

Sam smiled. "There's not a lot to say about me. As I told you before, I am from Nashville. I spent most of my childhood and adolescence at different boarding schools and my relationship with my family is weird but I love them all deeply."

"Every family has issues."

"Mine is just special sometimes."

Mercedes laughed and Sam thought he was in heaven. Mercedes' laugh was the nicest and sincerest laugh he had ever heard and it made him feel peaceful. "What are your plans for the future?" She asked.

"Well… I am studying Political Science as well so... I'm guessing law school is my best option." He said half-hearted.

"You don't seem enthusiastic at all." She pointed out.

"That's because I really wanted to be something else." He whispered.

"What was it?" Mercedes asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing!" Sam said. Nobody, not even Mike, knew about his long lost dream and honestly, he was not ready to share it with Mercedes. He did not want her to know he had a dorky side. He tried his best to divert the conversation they only way he knew. "Can I tell you something?"

Mercedes looked at him skeptically. "Sure."

"You are really pretty."

"Umm… Thanks." She replied in distrust.

"I mean it, Mercedes. You are beautiful in every conceivable way and I want you to believe it, ok."

"Ok."

After another long awkward silence, Sam said; "If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?" Sam said. The only way for her to believe that he was being honest was to open up himself completely to her.

"I promise I can try."

"Mercedes, there's something that I need to confess you. When you got mad at me because I used you as my work reference and I told you that I did it because I needed the job because my parents cut me off. I kinda lied." He said ashamed.

She looked at him and smiled. "Sam… I knew you were lying. So, don't worry. No hard feelings."

He chuckled at her honesty. "About your question… I always wanted to be a comic book illustrator." He said running his fingers through his hair. "I know it's dorky, ok!"

"Actually, I think it's cute."

"Cute?" He asked in confusion.

"Yeah! Because it shows a side of you that never in my life, I thought you had." She explained.

"People can surprise us."

"I agree."

They stared at each other and Sam knew he was falling deeper for her with every passing second but he knew that even though she seemed invested in their coffee date; she did not think about him that way. Trying to put all his thoughts and feelings aside, he concentrated in the reason that led them to that moment: her literature class.

"So, about your literature class; when and where do you wanna meet?"

"We can meet tomorrow after you get off from work, if you want. You can come over to my place since it is not that far from here."

"Sounds like a plan."

They had a really good time at their coffee date and after almost three hours of different conversations, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. For the first time since they met, they were genuinely courteous to each other.

XXXXX

The next day, Sam looked everywhere for Finn and he finally found him at the campus' main cafeteria with Rachel Berry in tow. Sam rolled his eyes at the sight of their PDA, it was horrifying. After waiting for around ten minutes, Sam finally approached them.

"Hello Finn!"

"Oh my god! Look who has decided to stop playing the poor boy game. How've you been my friend?"

Sam laughed somberly. "You knew her? You knew her and didn't even care about telling me."

Finn stood up from his chair, wrapped his arm around Sam's neck and said, "I thought you loved a good challenge. Did you fuck her already?"

Sam broke himself from him and looked at him in disgust, "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just a carbon copy of who you are." Finn casually said.

"I think you meant, who I was." Sam clarified.

"Who you were? Sam, tell that story to someone else. Old habits die hard and as soon as you get bored with her you'll be back to your antics."

"I know I won't."

Finn laughed but as soon as he saw that Sam's facial expression never changed, he understood Sam meant every single word. "You're in love with her?"

"That's none of your business."

"Sam, that's social suicide?"

"What's social suicide, Finny?" Rachel said as she approached they guys.

"Our friend Sam wants to date a loser. Some waitress he met."

"Oh no! Finn is right, you can't date someone from outside our circle."

"What is wrong with both of you? This is the 21st century for heaven's sake."

"Look, about Mercedes… I never told you because she is part of a past I want to forget and we were never friends, anyways."

"I'm very glad of that last part."

"What is happening to you? It seems like someone switched brains with you."

"Talking to you is pointless. Have a nice life Finn." Sam spat as he walked away from Finn and from what his life was. After that unfortunate meeting, Sam actually felt liberated. He finally felt like himself.

XXXXX

"Thanks for coming, Sam. I bet you are exhausted." Mercedes greeted him at the door. "Come on in."

"Nah! It's ok. It was an easy night." He replied as he walked by her.

"Do you want something to drink or maybe something to eat?"

"No… It's ok but, thanks!" He said. "Let's get down to business."

"Sure." She said as she looked for her literature book and handed it to him.

"So, sonnets!" Sam said as they walked to Mercedes' futon.

"Yeah." She said in a dreadful tone. "My ordeal starts in page 109."

Sam finds the page right away and reads the first lines of one of the sonnets on the page.

_"O me! What eyes hath love put in my head_

_Which have no correspondence with true sight_

_Or if they have, where is my judgment fled_

_That censures falsely what they see aright?"_

He looked at her lovingly, while she looked at him as if he had just spoken another language. "It's beautiful." Sam said.

"For me, it's just gibberish. I have no idea what he's saying." Mercedes insisted.

"Let me break it down to you. He's saying that love is like this magical thing and that love makes people look at each other without any kind of judgment." Sam explained.

"Why doesn't he just say that?" Mercedes argued.

Sam thought about how to answer her question without giving himself away because he thought that the lines he just read were meant for them. "Mercedes the problem is that people rarely say what they mean."

"I do." Mercedes rebutted.

"Then you are the exception to the rule."

"Maybe I am."

"You know what's interesting about the sonnets… They make you think. They make you look for what is going on underneath the surface. Try this line."

Mercedes looked at him in horror. She was intimidated by his vast knowledge of literature and how dumb she felt next to him. She wondered about how he could portray himself so differently from who he really was to the outside world, instead of showing this Sam to them. For Mercedes, this Sam was actually very likeable.

She read the line aloud, _"The sun itself sees not till heaven clears."_

"What come to your mind when you read this?"

Mercedes took some time to gather her but came out empty-handed. "Nothing, Sam. It's confusing."

"Think a little bit harder." He insisted.

"The only thing that comes to my mind is this; the sun can't shine when it's cloudy."

"Mercedes, you're being too literal. I know you can do better than that." He said as he grabbed her hand but she rapidly pulled it away. "Look, all these words have meanings; multiple meanings, actually."

"You've got to be kidding me."

She pouted in frustration and he chuckled at her cute facial expression. "You have to explore the possibilities. For example, in this case, the sun could mean reason or light and heaven could mean a state of being, like being happy or in love." He said looking at her thoughtfully. "Now, read the line again, thinking of what I just told you."

Mercedes read the line silently and thought about what Sam told her. "I think it could mean that love blinds you." She said staring at him fixedly.

"What else?"

"When you're in love you can't think reasonably. Like you are willing to do whatever it takes to be happy with that person."

Sam was happy she understood what the line meant but also he was hoping she understood that the line describe him perfectly. "Do you agree?"

"Yeah, but I mean it's just a poem." Mercedes answered oblivious to everything that sonnet meant.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's just a poem." He said defeated.

* * *

**A/N: **Mercedes is a fighter... She's not going down easily. Not even Shakespeare words can make her open up to new things. Sam in the other hand is a goner. What is he going to do to win her heart? I sense a little surprise!

***About **You Belong With Me**, I decided to take a little break from that story because everything that is coming to my head is for Perfect Strangers. I'm sorry for all of you that are waiting for an update. *Praying Circle for me, please! I need to finish that story.*

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	8. Chapter 8

New day and apparently I can write a new update in a few hours. I hope you like this one because I'm sort of speeding things up a bit.

Once again, thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favs! It feels amazing to have such support!

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 8

Weeks have passed since the first tutoring meeting between Sam and Mercedes and the tensions between them decreased rapidly. Long gone were the fights or the insults; actually, they were finding ways to understand each other, to everyone's surprise. Sam's life changed drastically but he was content with the outcome. The insensible asshole, who only cared about popularity and parties, was rapidly disappearing and the new and improved Sam was gaining more real friends than ever. Between studying, working and spending time with Mercedes, Mike, Santana and Joe, Sam found himself busier than ever. He tried his best to be civil with Finn and his other friends but things between them were definitely not the same anymore.

As the Thanksgiving break approached, Sam could not hide his excitement to go back home for a few days. Honestly, it was the first time in years, he was really happy see his family, particularly his siblings. Before heading back to his apartment to get ready for his trip, Sam and Mike stopped by the café because Sam wanted to see Mercedes one last time. Since it was a busy day and Mercedes was one of the most solicited servers in the café, Sam and Mike opted to sit at the bar.

"Are you off today?" Joe asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm heading to Tennessee tomorrow morning and I asked Shuester for the night off since I haven't pack." Sam answered keeping his attention on Mercedes.

"Nice." Joe said as he looked to where Sam gazed. "When are you going to tell her how you feel, Sam?"

"What?" Sam asked trying to hide his embarrassment and while Mike chugged down his drink.

"Dude, he just spotted you." Mike said.

"No, I didn't. I'm just asking for the obvious." Joe replied. "Everyone in this place knows what the deal between them is. What bothers us is Mercedes' blindness. I swear, she's one of the smartest girls I've ever met but when it comes to dating and that kind of stuff she is completely ignorant about everything. But fear nothing Sam Evans; nobody is going to open their mouths to spoil your moment." Joe added, making Sam feel like his stomach was tying itself into a tighter knot. "I'll be around if you need me." He said and walked away.

"Interesting guy." Mike said staring at his friend. "He has very insightful knowledge."

"Tell me about it." Sam said mortified.

"Hey Mercedes!" Squeaked Mike, when she approached them.

"Hey guys!" She said sporting her brightest smile. "Sam, I'm happy to see you before you head back home. I wanted to tell you that I got my literature midterm."

"Yes? How did you do?"

"A-Minus."

"A-Minus. That's great!" He said happy for her achievement.

"I wanted to thank you personally, really."

"It's ok. It was fun tutoring you." They both laughed at the sight of Mike.

"Well… I have to head back to check on my customers but let me know if you need anything. Good to see you, Mike."

"Likewise." Replied their Asian friend. "Mercedes, wait! Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" Mike asked.

"No. I'll be here."

"Oh… Well, have a good vacation." Sam said.

"You too, Sam."

Seconds later, Mercedes was gone and Mike was looking at Sam in a very disappointed way. "What?" Sam asked his friend.

"I can't believe you, Sam Evans!" Mike stated. "You should've invited her to Tennessee with you."

"Are you crazy? That would be weird. I just got into her good graces not that long ago and I don't want to lose that." He explained.

"In my book, you guys are finally friends. She was a nut hard to crack but in the end, you found your way around her."

"I know. I just don't want to get rejected, you know." Sam confessed, looking at the object of his affection from afar.

"Well, I am going to take my chance and I am going to invite her to spend some time with me back home. You wouldn't mind, right?"

"No. No, of course not. You guys are friends as well. Why would I mind?" Sam said visibly uncomfortable.

"I don't know." Mike teased.

Mike got out of the bar stool and approached Mercedes, noticing that Sam was following his tracks. "Hey, Mercy!"

"Yes?" She said as she turned to face Mike and surprisingly find Sam standing right next to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes! I wanted to asked you… since you don't have any plans for Thanksgiving, I was wondering if maybe-"

"…You wanted to spend Thanksgiving with me and my family?" Sam said interjecting Mike midsentence. Sam was surprised at his bravery while Mike was happy Sam finally took action, even though, he had to push him to his limits. Mercedes was stunned and she knew her facial expression was betraying her; she knew she looked like a deer stuck between headlights.

"Sam, that's a very generous invitation but I don't want to impose. I know how excited you are to spend some time with your family and I don't want to take that away from you."

"No. No, you won't. I really want to introduce you to a true southern Thanksgiving celebration. What do you say?" He said.

"Sam, it is really nice of you but-" She tried to say but Sam interrupted her.

"Come on, Mercedes! It would be fun and you don't have to worry about anything I will take care of whatever you need. Don't make me get down on my knees and beg you in front of everybody." He said as he slowly knelt. Mike was really enjoying the moment he was witnessing.

She laughed. This was something completely new to her and she did not know if it was a good idea but she was going to find out. "Get up! Please, Get up! Ok, I'll go." She replied.

He threw a fist in the air. "Yeah!"

XXXXX

Sam helped Mercedes out of the taxi and when she got a chance to take a good look at Sam's house, she was completely out of words. Sam picked up the bags from the taxi's truck, paid the driver and headed to front door.

"Hey!" He screeched as he saw his parents already waiting for them at the door.

"Hi sweetie!" His mother said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Hiya, captain!" Sam's father said as he wrapped his son into a hug. "You look good."

"Thanks!" Sam said as he pulled himself out of the embrace.

"Sammy!" Sam's siblings said in unison as they ran to hug their older brother. Mercedes was happy to see that Sam's family was as happy to see him, as he was to see them.

"Hi, kids! You guys are bigger than the last time I saw both of you."

"Duh, Sammy! We are are still growing up." Sam's little sister responded.

Sam smiled at his sister and quickly turned to Mercedes. "Mom, Dad, Stacy and Stevie… This is my friend Mercedes." She shyly smiled. "Mercedes, this is my family. My mother, Mary, my dad, Dwight and those two in the back are Stacy and Stevie."

"It's very nice to meet all of you. I'm glad to be here."

"It's very nice to meet you. Sam has spoken wonders about you." Sam's mother said.

"It's good to have you with us." Sam's father added. "It's funny the only college friends of Sam we've ever met were all boys. It's good to finally meet a girl." Dwight joked, causing everyone to laugh while Sam blushed.

"Please, come on in! Sam is going to take you to your room." Stevie said.

"Please, make yourself at home." Stacy added.

Mercedes politely smiled and followed Sam to the second floor of his house. "They don't seem so bad, Sam" She said when she knew she was far from their hearing range.

"They're not. I think I was the complicated one." He clarified. As they reached the second floor, Mercedes felt overwhelmed all of the sudden. Sam's house could easily be shown at an episode of MTV Cribs, yet it felt so warm and welcoming. The hallway that guided to the bedrooms was long and fully decorated and Mercedes got lost into all the art and the pictures she found on the walls. "Your house is huge." Mercedes said still stunned. "And… Look at all this stuff. It's impressive."

Sam chucked. "Not as impressive as you."

Mercedes smiled and thanked the heavens for her dark complexion. She was still not used to all the compliments he would say to her.

"Here we are." Sam said as they stopped in front of the guest room and he guided her inside. "My room is two doors down. I'm going to let you unpack calmly but let me know if you need anything." He said as he dropped her bag on the bed and started to walk out of the room.

"Thank you, Sam… for everything."

"You're welcome." He replied and he closed the door.

Mercedes ran to the door and opened it. "Sam, wait!"

Sam turned around. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. I just wanted to ask you something. It's silly but I wanted to ask you anyways."

"Ask away." He said happily.

"What happened to the insufferable Sam I met at the library at the beginning of the school year?"

He smiled, as he remembered their first meeting. It seemed like years had gone by and it had only been a few months since they met. "He's gone, Mercedes."

"Really?" She asked suspicious.

"Yes. Actually, I wanted to thank you for that."

"Me? Why?" She asked strangely confused.

"Because meeting you was what I needed to become a better person." Sam told her. Then, he kissed her on the cheek and walked to his room; leaving a dazed Mercedes in the hallway, trying to catch her breath.

"Oh shit!" She exclaimed as she touched her cheek.

* * *

**A/N: **Could it be?

What about Sam's invitation? Will it bring them closer or push them apart? I think is going to be interesting!

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, Hello! It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon where I live and I got quite inspired. I really hope you guys like where the story is going and please feel free to tell me any ideas that you want me to incorporate to the story.

Thanks for all the amazing reviews... They are really the boost I need to keep writing. Also, I wanna thanks everyone for the follows and the favs.

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 9

After dinner with the family, Sam took Mercedes for a tour around the house since he did not wanted her to _'get lost'_ but honestly, it was just an excuse to get some _'alone_ _time_´ with her since his parents and his siblings monopolized her attention during dinner time. From the basement to the attic, it took Sam around two hours to show Mercedes his whole house, not because his house was as big as the White House, but because Mercedes was mesmerized by something inside each room.

When they walked in inside Sam's room, Mercedes gasped.

"Sam, I thought my room was huge but look at this room; is as big as my studio apartment back in New Haven."

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I guess it is."

Mercedes walked to his bed and when she sat, she almost crushed Sam's bedtime companion.

"Watch out! You're crushing Stark." Sam said as he pulled Stark from underneath Mercedes.

"Stark? As Tony Stark?"

"Yes. I've been a huge Iron Man fan since forever and I had to name my very good watch-moose like my favorite superhero. Not once, I was attacked by a monster under my bed or something in the closet, thanks to him."

Mercedes laughed at Sam's dorkiness, not because she was making fun of him but because she liked this new relax Sam. "Well, hello Stark! It's very nice to meet you."

"Very pleased to meet you as well." Sam said mimicking Stark's voice.

"I like you like this." Mercedes stated.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Just like this. Just Sam." Mercedes said as she caressed his cheek in a complete involuntary act.

In that moment, Sam's father came to the door. "Sam, it's time to let Mercedes rest. We have a long day tomorrow." Sam looked at his dad and gave him a _'thanks for ruining my moment'_ look but unfortunately, it was his house and his rules.

"Your dad is right. I'll see you tomorrow, Sam. Again, thanks for everything." Mercedes said and left Sam's room.

"Take it easy, Sam. Everything has its time." Dwight said with a playful smile.

"Thanks, dad." Sam replied mortified.

XXXXX

The next day, they had breakfast with the family and once again, Mercedes was center of the Evans family attention. After breakfast, Sam took Mercedes outside and showed her the rest of the Evans property. When they reach the barn, Mercedes was intrigued by something very particular she found.

"Are those lawn mowers?"

"Yes."

"Why are they decorated like that?"

"Well, there's this very interesting race that is celebrated yearly on Thanksgiving Day at one of my dad's friends estate and instead of using cars or horses, we use lawn mowers. It's a huge sport around here. I used to win the race all the time but when I became the asshole you met, I stopped racing."

"Why?"

"Because I thought it was too redneck for my taste but, I decided to leave all that crap behind and actually, I am going to race again today. Also Stevie's is participating for the first time and I want him to feel safe and sound."

"He seems like a very good kid and Stacy is a very cute girl."

"Yes. They are." Sam assured her.

"They are very proud of you, Sam."

"You think so?" He asked as they sat on top of some some haystacks.

"Absolutely. The way they look at you is like there's nobody else better than you in their world. It's like you are their personal superhero."

"Wow! I have never noticed that."

"Sometimes it takes someone from the outside world to show us what we are not seeing right in front of our eyes."

In that moment, one of Sam's friends, Jake walked into the barn. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, not really! We were just talking." Said Sam while he stood up. "Mercedes this is my childhood friend, Jake. His father has been the one that has helped my father to keep everything around here in order. Jake this is my girl-... I mean, my friend from college, Mercedes."

Mercedes looked at Sam suspiciously. "Nice to meet you, Jake." Mercedes said as she shook Jake's hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Jake said with a smile. "Sam, let's get those lawn mowers ready!"

"Mercedes, you don't mind waiting while we get these babies ready for the race?" Sam asked her.

"No. Actually, I have a tea date with Stacy and I shouldn't be late for that. I'll see you later." She replied and left the barn.

"You like her, huh?" A very nosey Jake asked.

"More than you'll ever know." Sam sincerely answered sporting the goofiest smile on his face.

"I can tell."

"Yeah? How?"

"You have the same stupid look I have every time I look at Marley." Jake said and Sam playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Let's get to work." Sam added.

XXXXX

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Rose Mad Mower Derby. I'm Chris Rose, your host for the day." Could be heard through the speakers.

Mercedes, Mary and Stacy sat at the little stands around the track, while the boys were getting their lawn mowers ready. Mercedes could not stop looking at Sam and even though, he was getting everything set for the race, he could not help but check on her every once in a while.

"You know, you need to stop staring at her like that." Dwight joked.

"I can't, dad. It is like the only thing my eyes want to see is her face." Sam confessed. "I really like her but I don't know how to tell her that without scaring her away." He added.

"For what it's worth, Sam, I think you should try telling her. Something your grandfather used to tell me when I was courting your mother was that _"Chemistry isn't just a class and you guys have it."_ Your mother told me how everything started between the two of you and there is only one thing I can tell you, it is something I learned while watching a Disney movie with Stacy; _the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all._ Your mom and I think she's the best thing to ever happen to you. She has helped you turn into the man I always wanted you to be and for that I will be forever in her debt."

"Wow. Never in my life had I thought you were going to tell me something like that."

His dad gave him is fatherly look and said, "Honestly, never in my life I thought you were going to be ready to hear those words."

"Dad… there's something I wanna tell you. It's about my career path." Sam thought that since they were on good track now, that it was time for him to tell him that he did not wanted to be a lawyer after all.

"What is it, son?"

"I don't wanna be a lawyer, dad."

"What? I thought that's what you wanted to be?"

"No, dad. That's what you and mom wanted me to be. Actually, I want to be a comic book illustrator. I know it's not fancy like being a doctor or a lawyer but it is what makes me happy."

Sam's father looked at him with compassion. How in the world, he thought his son wanted to be a lawyer when he knew his real passion? Dwight wanted what was best for his son but he was thinking with his businessman brain instead of his father's heart. "Let's talk about that when we get home. Right now, we have a race to win." He said.

XXXXX

After winning the race and enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner at the Rose residence, Sam took Mercedes for a ride on the lawn mower and after it got late for them to be driving around, he drove them back to his house. After organizing the things at the barn, Sam and Mercedes sat next to each other at the entrance of the barn and started stargazing. While stargazing, they talked about different things, including the fact of how much his family adored her.

"I'm guessing that's the reason people around here are getting the wrong idea about you and me." Mercedes stared.

"What idea is that?" Sam asked closing the gap between them.

"That we are involved, which we're not." Mercedes said timidly and frozen because of Sam's intense gaze.

"No." He said in a seductive tone.

Mercedes swallowed out of her nervousness. "Definitely not."

"Because you hate me." He teased.

"Yes, very much." Mercedes whispered.

Their lips were almost touching. In that moment and with the moon and the stars as their witnesses, Sam gently closed the gap between them and kissed Mercedes with a fondness he had never felt before for anyone else. Kissing her made him feel like time around them stopped and the only thing that matter in that moment were them. After Sam broke the kiss, Mercedes looked at him confused and said,

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sam said coming down from his high. "Which is why, I am going to walk you to your door..." He said and then placed a small peck on her lips. "… And wish you goodnight." He finished.

He kissed her once more but this time more heartily than before. Then, as he promised, he walked her to her room and bid her goodnight. When Sam walked into his room, he thanked the heavens for the moment he had just shared with Mercedes.

* * *

**A/N: **Love is in the air! How about that for a special Thanksgiving getaway. These two are driving me insane because all I can write is fluff and more fluff. Love is a beautiful and intoxicating thing, you know! LOL... Let's see where life is taking them in the upcoming chapters.

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	10. Chapter 10

Here's a new update. Two in one day... Oh yeah! But, I sense that this update is going to get me into a lot of trouble.

Like always, thanks for all the reviews, the follows and the favs! :)

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 10

Bursting from their Thanksgiving bubble became difficult for the new couple. Returning to their regular lives, college and work was something they both dreaded because all they wanted to do was to stay in their _'Tennessee State of Love'_. Going back to New Haven meant dealing with Santana's constant racy comments about the library stacks, Joe's very untimely cockblocking moments and finals.

Walking around campus hand in hand with Sam was a very interesting experience for Mercedes because not matter how different Sam was from how she met him; he was still one of the most popular guys around campus. Frankly, she was having a difficult time adjusting to all the attention her relationship with him was getting. Even going to the library was a whole new deal for her because people would be staring at them all the time and honestly, Sam was not helping with keeping the attention away from them.

"Stop."

"What? I am not doing anything." He said innocently. "I'm just kissing my girlfriend's neck because she looks cold."

"That's exactly what I mean, Sam. People are staring." Mercedes said mortified.

"So, let them stare and eat themselves out of envy." He said, as he continued his ministrations, not caring that Santana was sitting across from them as well.

"Sam, I mean it. Stop!"

"I'll stop if you stop being so sexy." He whispered to her ear, sending all kinds of electric shocks down her spine.

Seeing the spectacle in front of her, Santana started to mumble her to take him to the library stacks but Mercedes muttered a firm _no_ in reply.

"Sam. I need to concentrate. I have a scholarship to keep."

"Ok, Ok. I'm studying."

Ten minutes later, Sam started with his antics again. He started to rub Mercedes' thigh and to play naughtily with her hand, causing her to lose track of her reading. "Sam… My scholarship."

"You know my dad could easily pay for your tuition fees." Sam pointed out trying his luck with her.

"I don't want your dad to pay for anything when I have a very capable brain that can help me keep my scholarship."

"Ok. You win. I'll stop for now."

"Thank you."

Seeing what was happening, Santana decided it was time for her to escape. "Guys, I gotta go. I have lunch plans with Brit. See you guys later and remember the dusty stacks are only two floors away."

Mercedes looked at her completely mortified, while Sam thanked her for the idea. "Don't even think about it, Sam Evans."

"Give me a few minutes and you will want me to take you there in heartbeat."

"Sam, finals start next week and you need to be serious."

"Oh… I will. Later." He said naughtily.

XXXXX

In the distance, there was someone watching them like a hawk. Everything that person wanted was the perfect moment to strike the happy couple. Sam Evans needed to learn a few things about elitism and that person, with the help of another person, was going to make sure that he learn them somehow.

"What are you going to do to break them up?"

"I don't know but one thing I can assure you they are not going to last."

XXXXX

As Sam continued his not so subtle ministrations, Mercedes was losing her concentration more and more. "Gosh, I've read the same sentence like 20 times."

Sam mischievously laughed. "You can't resist me, Mercy."

Sam Evans was right. He was becoming a vice to her. He consumed every single thought and every moment. She loved him more than words could ever express even though none of them had said the l-word to each other. She was sure their actions were speaking what their words could not say yet.

"Come with me, Mercedes." Sam said while he grabbed her hand, forgetting all about the belongings they were leaving behind.

While Sam guided Mercedes around the library, the mysterious hater made the move. "Follow them and do what you gotta do to embarrass them." The person ordered.

"On my way." The little minion said.

As they went up the stairs, their excitement was rising rapidly and they could not get their hands away from each other. When they finally arrived to where the solitary stacks were, they hid in between a couple of shelves, unaware of the person following them. Mercedes pushed Sam against one the shelves and started to kiss him passionately, Sam in response grabbed her so tight that there was no space between them. Engrossed into their heated make-out session, they did not notice that the person, who followed them, was snapping pictures of them. When they were about to go all the way, the minion, trying to get a better snapshot of the couple knocked down a couple of books and made them stop.

"Who's there?" Sam shouted as he put his shirt back on and Mercedes was rapidly getting dressed herself. As Sam tried to look around for whoever the person was, the person ran out of the floor through the emergency door and neither of them could not get a good look of the person.

"I got some interesting pictures. Meet me at the newspaper's office; we are going to have some fun." The person said and hung up the call.

XXXXX

The next day, Mercedes was walking through the hallways of the Political Sciences building and she noticed that everybody was looking at her weirdly and whispering things she could not understand. Yes, being in a relationship with Sam Evans was the synonym of getting unnecessary attention but one thing she hated was people whispering about them in her face. In that moment, Brittany approached her with the college newspaper at hand.

"Hey Mercedes, I did not know you agreed to have someone photograph you while getting dirty with Sam at the library?"

Mercedes looked at her in utter confusion. "What are you talking about, Brit?"

"Look, it's on today's paper."

Mercedes grabbed the paper and look for the craziness Brittany was talking about. When she finally found the page, she could not believe what she saw. '_SAM EVANS AND HIS LOVE FOR THE POOR'_. Mercedes read the title again and again. Mercedes began to read the article but she could not read past the first three paragraphs. The article explained how Finn and Sam deceptively arranged some bet to get Mercedes on Sam's bed just because she was a poor waitress. However, Sam embarrassed of having to have sex with her at his apartment, took her to the dusty library stacks instead to complete his task.

"What is this crap?" Mercedes shouted with her eyes full of tears while Brittany tried to comfort her. "I need to find Sam."

"Not so fast, girl." Mercedes turned around and found Rachel Berry standing in front of her.

"What do you want?" Mercedes asked annoyed, while Brittany walked away to look for Santana.

"Nothing. I just wanted laugh in your face because of the ridicule Sam has put you through. Did you really believe that someone like Sam could be interested in someone like you?" Rachel said insultingly. "Look at you! You are the epitome of a gold digger."

Mercedes slapped Rachel strongly. She could handle a lot of things expect being called a gold digger. "Everything I have, I've got it because of all my hard work. I don't need Sam nor any other rich boy to take care of me."

Rachel, rubbing her cheek, angrily spat. "Mercedes, we all know how the people of your ilk are. Stop pretending."

"Stop pretending what?" Sam said as he intervened.

"Sam!" Mercedes said still confused about what was going on.

"I'm waiting for an answer." Sam said frustrated.

"My work here is done. I don't feel like getting myself tangled with scum. But, it was interesting to find out that this…" Rachel said as she pointed at Mercedes. "It was just a silly bet between you and my Finny." After Rachel spat her venom, she walked away with a malevolent smile on her face.

Sam rapidly faced Mercedes and tried to hug her but she pulled away from his grip and ran outside the building, not caring that it was raining heavily.

"Why do these things happen to me?"

"I'm sorry, Mercedes! I really am. I didn't even finish reading the article when I started looking for you."

"You're not as sorry as I am."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I never should have started this. You are the kind of distraction I was trying to avoid." Mercedes said rubbing off the tears mixed with rain from her eyes. "Never in my life had I thought that I was going to end up being the joke of Yale University."

"Mercedes, please let me get-" Sam said trying to guide her back to the building.

"Don't touch me." She said removing his hands off her.

"Mercedes, please listen to me. You need to hear me out." He begged.

"So, there's a truth to all this mess."

"Not exactly." He said while he unsuccessfully tried to close the gap between them. "I wanted to make the bet with Finn at the beginning. That is something I am not going to deny. I remember telling him something about it one of the times I went to the café before I actually got a change to meet you but everything changed the first time I worked with you at the café. That was the night everything became clear to me, even though, I tried my best to hide it with my cocky attitude. It was the first time; I saw something in you that ignited everything that made who I am today. For the first time in my life I felt like my true self." He explained.

"And, what would have happened if I had not woken up anything on you?"

"I don't know. It would have been just another game."

Mercedes was disappointed, hurt and all she wanted was to run away from him. "Stay away from me, Sam. This… you and me… it's over." She said, while she walked away him.

"No. I won't accept that." Sam said frankly.

"Why?" She asked without facing him.

"Because I love you." He finally confessed.

"You love me? Why I should not believe this is part of some ploy?"

"Because… I am not pretending that I love you. I really do. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. I am this endearing person today thanks to you. I told you this when we were at my folks. Mercedes, my parents told you that you were the first girl I ever brought home and they didn't have the need to lie for me. They were as real to you as the amazing relationship that we share."

"I'm sorry, Sam but what we had... is broken. We're done." Mercedes said and ran away, leaving him heartbroken and empty.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh no! Troubles in Fluffy land? Well... Relationships grow when they face troubles, right? Mercedes took a rash decision to end things with Sam. Will she regret it in the long run? What is Sam going to do about what the newspaper posted? Is he going to find out who did it? One clue... Finn did not do it, but he did made the mistake of sharing some information that was wrongly used.

Please... Don't be mad at me... I promise all of you the fluff will be back soon.

Until Next Time,

XOXO


	11. Chapter 11

New morning, new update! I am thanking MLK's holiday for giving me some extra time to work on the story. I really hope you guys like the update because I know some of you are mad at me because of what I did on the last one. But fear nothing my loyal readers, the fluff will be back soon!

Thanks for the reviews, I had a lot of fun reading them. I wanna thank all the people who have written me PMs as well. I have answered

a few and I will answer a few more in a bit. I want to thank for the follows and favs too... I mean I am really happy with the all support.

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 11

It has been a week since Mercedes broke things off with Sam and seeing their miserable facial expression was simply hurtful. Their friends were as hurt as well because the amazing connection they all once had got lost and they did not have an idea of how to fix it, more importantly they did not have an idea of how to get Sam and Mercedes together. Santana and Mike went to the newspaper's office in hopes of finding who ran the horrible article about Sam and Mercedes but the only thing that they found was that some guy named Jacob Ben Israel published it as a favor. Sam looked for Jacob only to find out that he dropped out of Yale and moved back home.

Things between Sam and his parents also got tense because they got a copy of the newspaper. Sam explained them what happened and saying that his parents were disappointed was an understatement. Also during that time, Sam's father, Dwight, revealed that he was sick bringing in more reasons for Sam to worry. In simple words, Sam's life went from perfect to a giant piece of shit in less than a week.

Mercedes was having her own piece of sorrows. In addition of having to deal with people's stares and gossip, the day Sam quit the café to give her space; she felt like a piece of her heart was ripped from her insides. She felt so sad and incomplete without him; she drowned herself in schoolwork but avoided her literature coursework like a plague. In addition, talking to her friends became such a burden to her that she stopped hanging out with the majority of them; she only spoke to Santana and it was because she threatened to cut her with one of her hidden razor blades.

Definitely, these two were having the shittiest days of their lives and they have a duet to thank for that. After finding out about the break-up, Rachel thought she did the good deed to Sam and that after a couple of days he was going to find his way back to his first circle of friends but especially back to her. Rachel was infatuated with Sam; actually, she was obsessed with his wealth. Rachel always had delusions of grandeur and she thought that her perfect way to keep her status was to catch someone like Sam. During summertime, Sam and she had a secret fling but after her constant insistences, Sam allowed her to make their unofficial relationship public. During a weekend getaway in Miami, Sam called things off between them because he got bored of her and she became obsessed with the idea of making him pay for her alleged distress. Rachel Berry was simple the queen of the drama queens. Rachel enlisted Quinn, another girl who confused her obsession with Sam with love, to help her break Sam and Mercedes apart and in exchange, Rachel was going to help Quinn to finally hook up with Sam. What Quinn did not know is that Rachel was going to betray her as soon as Sam came back to the 'safe haven' like Rachel called her social circle.

"Rachel, have you heard anything from Sam?" A very impatient Quinn asked while they were at one of the college restrooms. "Because every time I try to talk to him or something, he avoids me as if I had leprosy and you said that as soon as he became a single guy you were going to help me and I see a lot of talking but no action." The pretty but confused blonde added frustrated.

"Quinny, I spoke to Sam." Rachel lied. "I tried my best but he is simply not interested."

"What? But… But, you said that I had fair shot with him." Quinn recalled.

"I know but, I never said that it was a definitive shot. You know, Sam is more interested in girls of his social strata not some 'fake rich' girl like you or 'social climbers' like that waitress he used to date. He's into a more sophisticated type of girl; a girl with class, culture and good presence." Rachel explained.

Quinn was fuming; she finally understood that Rachel played her into helping her only manage the situation on her favor and win Sam back. "Oh! So you mean… Sam only likes girls like you?"

"Something like that." Rachel said maliciously.

"You little bitch."

"Hey, be careful how you speak to me! I own you, dumb blonde." Rachel said in her 'HBIC' tone.

"No. No, you don't and I am going to find Sam this instance and I am going to tell him exactly what happened. I am going to tell him how you seduced Finn to get all the information he knew about the Mercedes' deal, how you coaxed me into helping you out and how with my help, unfortunately, you convinced Jacob to run the article for us. I am going to tell him that you did because you have a sickening obsession with him and you were mortified that he chose Mercedes over you." Quinn said almost in tears.

"I want to see you try. Sam is not going to believe a word you say."

"Maybe he won't at the beginning but a doubt will be sown." Quinn said while she rapidly ran out of the restroom with a desperate Rachel following her tracks. But, little did these two know that they were not alone in that restroom. The person called the only person she thought it could do something smarted than her in a situation like this one.

"Santana, I think I found a way to get our friends back together."

XXXXX

After taking his last final, Sam and Mike went back to Mike's place to 'celebrate' the end of another semester at Yale. They were so immersed in their videogame war, they almost missed the fact that Sam's cellphone was vibrating.

"Hello?" Mike said picking up the phone call.

"Mike, put Sam on the line."

"One moment, Mrs. Evans." Mike handed the phone to Sam.

"Hello?"

"Sam."

"Hello, mom!" Sam said thinking that it was going to be one of those phone calls where his mother tries to tell him on how to run his life.

"Sam, you have to come home now. For your father's sake. How fast can you get here?"

It took him a few seconds to digest what his mother was asking him. _Is my father gravely ill? _He thought. After a minute, he replied, "I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me sort a few things out and I'll be on my way."

"Thank you, son."

XXXXX

On her way to her literature final, Mercedes was a nervous because the grade of this exam was the deciding grade that could keep her scholarship alive. Lost in her thoughts, she could not hear that Santana and Brittany were trying to get her attention.

"Mercedes!" Santana yelled. "Wait up!"

Brittany reached her first and stopped her, "Mercedes, there's something you need to know."

Mercedes looked at them confused. "Girls, I don't have time for gossip. I have a final in five minutes."

"Yeah, I know but you need to listen to this. Brittany casually found out who are the people responsible for the newspaper article." Santana explained.

"Santana, that's a closed chapter in my life. I don't wanna talk about it. I gotta go. I need a couple of minutes before my exam because for my luck, it is an oral exam. See you guys later."

"But… Mercedes!" Brittany said miserably.

"Brittany, please! Not now." Mercedes emphasized and walked towards her classroom.

XXXXX

"Lady Macbeth may have convinced him to kill Duncan, but he knew it was his fate before she even tried. Destiny is not something that we can easily fight against." Mercedes explained to her professor and a few others of his colleagues.

"But, what about circumstances, Miss Jones? Take Othello, for instance. Was Othello fated to kill Desdemona or did Iago create the circumstance?"

Mercedes wiped her hands on her jeans silently pray the heavens for an answer. After few seconds, she proceeded. "I think it's both. On the surface, Iago is the bad guy. But, if we look closer, we see that the crack Iago exploited was of Othello's own making."

"But still, Othello made his choices." The professor countered.

"Bad ones! In my opinion, Othello had love but chose not to listen to his heart." In that moment, flashbacks of her happy times with Sam came back to her mind. "Love doesn't come around every day, and when it does, you gotta grab it and hold on to it. I mean they could've lived happily ever after and I know this is some cheesy fantansy…" More and more memories invaded her thoughts and Mercedes could not help but to tangle her own experiences into her answer. "…but what if the fantasy actually became true. What if there is a handsome guy, who happens to be a really good kisser…"

"Miss Jones…" Her professor said trying to stop her line of thought.

"What if you know you're in love? What if you realized that not all the things you thought were important matter anymore? Because the most important thing is to be with him. Then it's not some fantasy. It is something real. I mean, don't you think those two people should be together?"

After finishing her speech, Mercedes could not believe what her emotions made her say but everything was said and done. After a few seconds of silence, three of the professor's colleagues answered Mercedes' question in unison.

"Yes."

Mercedes smiled. "I do too."

In a blink of an eye, Mercedes left the classroom and went to look for Sam, not knowing that she was just a little too late to find him.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh Rachel Berry! You are going to be in serious trouble and I should keep my eyes on Santana and Brittany. They are going to come up with an interesting idea to make you pay. Quinn, I feel sorry for you because you are going to get into some trouble as well but you might get a better ending than Rachel.

Sam's dad is sick and he's requiring Sam's presence back home. For what? Is Mercedes going to be able to stop or is she going to have to live with the fact that she lost him forever?

Stay tuned!

XOXO


	12. Chapter 12

Hello, my fellow Fan Fics addicts! Here I am with a new update. I really hope you like it because I am going back to a pretty element; Fluff.

I want to thank you all for the kind reviews, the follow and the favs. You guys are amazing!

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 12

Mercedes arrived at Sam's apartment twenty minutes after running out of her literature final exam. She did not know what Sam's reaction was going to be but she was going to try her best to fix things with him. She wanted to continue her fairytale story with him no matter the bumps they could find on the road.

Mercedes knocked the door and felt like her entire world crumbled when Mike greeted her at the door without his signature smile on his face.

"Hi." Mike said somberly.

"Hey, Mike. Where's Sam? I need to talk to him."

Mike looked at her in anguish. "Sam is on his way back to Tennessee."

"What?"

"Yes. His mother called him and asked him to go back home but he didn't explain me anything but, he left you something." Mike went back inside a handed Mercedes an envelope.

"What is this?" Mercedes asked.

"I don't know. He just asked me to give it to you."

"Thanks Mike. I'll see you later."

XXXXX

Mercedes walked back to her studio apartment and as soon as she walked inside, she sat on her futon and opened the note Sam left her. The note was short and to the point, it only had one sentence but it was what she needed to read to understand that she had to take the decision of her life. Running to her closet, forgetting that she was supposed to go to work in a couple of hours, Mercedes called Santana and explained her that she needed her help.

"Ok… Tell me what you need." Santana asked as she walked inside Mercedes' place thirty minutes later.

"I need you to drive me to the airport." Mercedes told her.

"The airport?"

"Yes!" Mercedes said excitedly.

"Why?"

"It's in the note Sam left me. Read it!" Mercedes said while giving her friend the note for Santana to read.

"_The sun itself sees not till heaven clears._ What is this? I don't understand."

"You gotta look for the different meanings and possibilities. Look for what's underneath the surface." Mercedes explained.

"Still not getting it. But, what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to Tennessee."

"You are randomly going to show up at his parent's house?"

"Something like that. I don't have a plan but I need to follow my heart and my heart is telling me to go and fight for him." Mercedes explained cheerful.

"Then… Let's go. We need to get you on a plane as soon as possible."

XXXXX

After dropping Mercedes at the airport, Santana met Brittany at a friend's, who was going to helped them drop the interesting bomb that was going to make Rachel Berry regret crossing their friend's path. Santana and Brittany thanked the heavens for having a friend like Artie, who was very knowledgeable in computers.

"Well… it's done. By this time tomorrow everyone around campus and the nation is going to know who Rachel Berry really is." Santana happily said. "Gotta love the internet!"

"San, what about Quinn?" Brittany asked.

"That blonde dug her own grave. Life will take care of her for being so stupid."

"Artie, thanks for being our technology leprechaun." Brittany said.

"Anytime, Brit Brit." Artie replied.

XXXXX

The plane ride to Tennessee was calm. Mercedes thought of how Sam was going to react the moment he finds out that she is standing at the front door of his parent's house. Thinking about it made her smile like a child at the sight of candy. But, as soon as the plane landed and she got her bag, a sense of nervousness took over her. She felt her stomach tie into a bunch of knots, but she was already in Tennessee. "_Not time to back out now."_ She said to herself. She hailed for a cab and in a few minutes, she was on her way to face Sam after their painful break-up. Arriving at the Evans residence had different meaning this time, because it could be the saving of something magical or the definitive end of the most beautiful fairytale she had ever lived.

Mercedes walked to the door, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. When she heard someone approaching the door, she felt like her body automatically held her breath.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Stevie, come here!" Stacy said when she opened the door and saw Mercedes standing at the door. "Mercedes, I'm so happy to see you. Sam has not been the same since the break-up." Stacy said as she pulled Mercedes inside the house.

"Stacy, what is-" Stevie looked at Mercedes as if he had seen a ghost. "Thank you, Lord!" He said as he approached the girls. "Mercedes, it's so good to have you back. We need the Sam we had back in Thanksgiving and you are the only one that can do that." He hugged her. "I am going to take your bag upstairs and I going to get your room ready."

"I am going to take you to the kitchen; there are some people who are going to be very happy to see you. Come with me!" Stacy said, grabbing her hand and dragging Mercedes to the kitchen.

"Mom, Dad, Sam… we have a visitor."

Stacy and Mercedes slowly entered the kitchen and there at the end of the countertop and resting against it was Sam, looking more handsome than ever and more surprised than ever.

"Hi!" Mercedes bashfully said.

Sam got closer to her and caressed her face, "You're not a vision. You're really here."

"Yes. Yes, I am." Mercedes said, looking into his green eyes.

A smile spread across Sam's face. "I need to confirm that in fact that the girl standing in front of me is my Mercedes."

"How are you going to do that?" Mercedes asked.

"Like this." In that moment, Sam pulled Mercedes into the most amazing kiss she had ever had. Sam craved her kisses, her touch and he simple did not give a thing that he was in the same room with his parents and his sister. "Now, I know it is you." He said as he pulled away from the kiss. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"I've been missing you too." Mercedes was happy to see that Sam was more than willing to work things out with her. "We have a lot to talk about, Sam."

"Yeah! I know we do." He kissed her on the cheek. "But, we will do it later. Stacy, please, take Mercedes to the garden at the backyard, I have something to talk to mom and dad first." He added and Stacy guided Mercedes outside through the kitchen door.

XXXXX

"Absolutely not, Sam! Don't get me wrong, I like Mercedes. Trust me, I do. However, I don't think what you want to do is a good idea." Sam's mother, Mary, said heatedly.

"Mom, I love her and she loves me. She wouldn't be here if she didn't love me. It has taken us a lot to be where we are, including me being such a dickhead to her at the beginning. I am not going to lose her." Sam explained.

"It has taken you a lot to get to where you are?" Mary asked sarcastically and Sam nodded. "It has taken us many years of hard work and sacrifices to get to where we are, Sam. You need to understand that, right now, your father and I need you and you need to be concentrated. You can't be distracted by some fairytale love that you can live later in your life."

"Mom, I'm only 20 years old. You can't put that kind of pressure on me and just as a reminder since the day I turned 18 you can't really tell me how to live my life." Sam refuted exasperatingly.

"Sam, I know she has outstanding qualities but I don't think this is the right moment for you to do this. Both of you still have a whole life ahead of you."

"Mom, I will face my responsibilities." Sam insisted.

"Good."

"As soon as you let me be the man I want to be and live my life next to the woman I want to be with." Sam said as his condition.

"Out of the question."

"Why?"

"I think that I have made myself very clear." Mary said seriously.

"Then I hope you think Stevie is fit to be in charge of the family business at the age of 14."

"Oh, don't you threaten us!"

"_Enough!"_ Dwight said powerfully after getting tired of the intense argument between his oldest son and his wife. Sam lowered his head in embarrassment, while Mary groaned.

"Sam, you will be in charge of everything until I am strong enough to continue my duties."

"Yes sir."

"Now… About Mercedes, if you love her as strong as you say you do and you are willing to commit yourself to her at this young age and if you believe she will make you happy, then marry her." Dwight said thoughtfully.

"Dwight, you can't mean that. I think your medications are making you say crazy things. It's not the perfect time to discuss this." Mary rebutted.

"Mary, I am not saying crazy things and I think it is the perfect time to talk about this." He said as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, gaining her complete attention. "Sweetheart, it is at the end of a man's life when he realizes how important his decisions were at the beginning. I don't want our son to regret something about his life because we stood on his way as obstacles. I want him to have the same realizations I've been having. I want him to be happy just like I've been my entire life."

Sam's mother had his eyes filled with tears. Dwight and Mary pulled Sam into a hug and Sam thanked his dad for his understanding.

XXXXX

"Stacy, thank you for keeping my girl accompanied but now it's time for me to spend some time with her." Sam said to his sister. He kissed his sister on the forehead and she returned to the house.

Sam grabbed Mercedes' hand and guided her to a little white gazebo; his mother had decorated with her favorite flowers, orchids. "Mercedes seeing you again, having you here with me has made this day one of the most incredible days of my life." Sam said caressing her face. "Baby, I have something important to tell you."

"Yeah?" Mercedes asked unaware of how drastically her life could change.

"The reason I had to come back so abruptly is because my dad is sick and since there are no other relatives that could help us, I need to step into the business game until further notice."

"Oh wow! I'm so sorry." Mercedes said distressed.

"It's ok. The important thing is that now my life is complete because you're here with me." He stated and grabbed her hand. "Mercedes, I love you so much and I know the sacrifices you would have to make…" He said kneeling down and pulling out a ring he bought with Mike back in New Haven because deep in his heart and after many internal denials, he knew Mercedes was it for him.

"What are you doing?" Mercedes asked dumbfounded.

"Mercedes Jones, will you marry me?"

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, I know I am evil for leaving the chapter like this... But I am already working on the new update and her answer is the very first line. One thing I can tell you is that I know some of you might get mad at me, or maybe not... Thoughts about the chapter in general: Loved it, Liked it or hated it?

This story is coming to an end very soon... Where do you guys think my imagination will take these two?

Stay Tuned,

XOXO


	13. Chapter 13

New beautiful Thursday morning and here's the new update! I really hope you guys like how I organized everything for this update. Yes, things are going to be interesting but I really hope you guys understand why everything is heading to where it is heading.

Thanks for the reviews, the favs and the follows. I really had a blast reading the reviews from last chapter...

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to review!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 13

Mercedes did not know what to do, there in the backyard of his parents' house, Sam asked her the question that was going to change her life forever. In that moment, she knew how much she was going to sacrifice but then she thought of all the amazing things she was going to get. Sam and Mercedes had not been together for long but she knew in her heart Sam was the one.

"Yes." She said choking up.

Sam put the ring on her finger, rose and kissed her intensely. "Let's spread the news."

After telling his parents, Sam and Mercedes informed their friends and the official whirlwind to the unknown began.

XXXXX

The next day an excited Stacy walked into Mercedes' room waking a still tired Mercedes.

"Good morning! Good Morning! Again, congratulations on your engagement to my brother." Stacy shrieked opening the curtains causing her to groan because of the sudden glare. "You are Sammy are getting married. It's so romantic."

"Thank you, Stacy" Mercedes said a bit more relax, she as just a kid after all and she did not know the importance of beauty sleep.

"Isn't it wonderful? We are going to be sisters. Finally, I will have someone to talk to about girl stuff." Stacy said.

"I can't wait." Mercedes replied sincerely. Growing up with her uncle, in a house full of boys was difficult for her because she had to go through all her teen changes on her own and honestly, she did not want Stacy to go through the same sorrows. "Stacy, since I have no plans for the day… do you want to go shopping?"

"Oh yes! I would love to." She squeaked.

"Then, it's a date. We are going to have our first girls' day today!" Mercedes fist bumped Stacy.

At that very moment, Sam walked inside the room handsomely dressed in some black trousers and dressing shirt. "Good morning, my love! I hope Stacy is not giving a headache at such early hour."

"Oh no! She said accepting his kiss on her cheek. "We were planning or first shopping day."

"Awesome." Sam said. "About that, there's something I need you to do while at the mall."

"What is it?"

"Well, tonight we are attending our first event as an engaged couple." He said quite enthusiastic.

"Event?" Mercedes asked

"Yeah…. I have a business dinner to attend with my dad. He's taking mom with him and I want to flaunt my beautiful fiancée." He said sporting his signature lopsided grin.

"So, I want you to take this credit card and buy the most beautiful dress and don't worry about how much it will cost."

"But-"

"Don't argue! It's my treat." He said casually. "I have to go to the office but don't hesitate on calling me if you need anything. I'll see you later. I love you." Sam said giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"I love you, too." Mercedes replied.

"I love you too, Stacy." He said kissing his sister's forehead. "Don't be a pain to Mercedes today."

"Never! Have a good day!"

"You too, girls." He said and left the room.

"Oh my god! I need a dress, shoes and accessories. I need a lot of things." She said getting of the bed.

"Well, we gotta hurry up! We have a long day ahead of us!" Stacy remarked.

The business dinner was a very interesting experience for Mercedes, maybe because it was full of many stuck up people who reminded her of the Sam she first met. The guests looked at her weirdly maybe because she was just an average college girl from Ohio, with neither riches nor fortune or maybe because she was not some idiotic bimbo, like the ones Sam used to date. Mercedes felt out of her element but she kept her smile and her poise every single moment because she was going to have to get used to this world.

XXXXX

While in Tennessee, things were taking unknown turns for Sam and Mercedes, in New Haven the story was becoming a bit terrifying for Rachel Berry. Though Santana wanted to make Rachel physically pay for what she did to her friends, Brittany and Artie set up a better more lasting punishment for her, public shame.

Santana and Brittany's bomb exploded exactly at noon, the day the spring semester started. Artie, Brittany's computer leprechaun, managed to set an email to be sent by the Yale's main email system to every student on campus and her parents. The email contained the audio from Rachel's conversation with Quinn and some very objectionable pictures of the 'sophisticated' and 'well behaved' Berry that Artie found while he hacked her computer through her Yale email account. Unashamed of being the ones exposing Rachel, Santana and Brittany signed the email as the creators.

"Santana Lopez, stop right there!" Rachel demanded.

Santana rolled her eyes and turned around to face her. "What do you want, Hobbit?"

"I want to kill you!" Rachel shouted.

"For what? For showing our fellow classmates who you really are?"

"How did you get that? The audio, the pictures!"

"I don't share my secrets, Dwarf."

"You bitch!"

"I know… That's the reason everybody loves me, because I am a straight up bitch!"

"I'm going to kill you." Rachel repeated as she tried to attack her.

"Oh, please Berry! Go hide inside a hole and stop making a fool of yourself. Everybody knows who you are now, stop defending your pretended honor." Santana said. "Oh, I forgot to tell you… you should call your parents. I forwarded the email to them as well." Santana added as she playfully winked at her.

"You did what?"

"That's what happens when people mess with the people I love and care about. Auntie Snixx, comes out to play and she doesn't care about the damages."

Rachel started to cry because her charade as the pristine daughter was going to end that day.

"One last piece of piece of advice, don't try something against my friends, Brittany or I because next time I have to face you I am going to get very physical and let me just say I am going to have a ball skinning you alive with my famous razor blades. Have a nice life, Midget!" The Latina added, leaving Rachel in some sort of catatonic stage.

XXXXX

Months went by and Sam and Mercedes were experiencing a lot of bumps along their road but they still loved each other very much. However, as summertime approached them, Sam spent the majority of his days at the office, while Mercedes spent her days at the house. She managed to register in online courses to keep her degree agenda on schedule but in good conscience, she was just using the classes as an excuse to keep herself distracted from missing Sam.

From business dinners, to balls and galas, keeping track with Sam's life was becoming a burden to Mercedes and constant misunderstandings and even fights were more present during their time together. Their love was strong but their relationship was weakening.

"Hey!" A very tired Sam said as he walked into the office he arranged for Mercedes to study.

"Hi, how was your day?" Mercedes said while putting her American Politics' book aside.

"It was long and boring. At least dad is finally taking over."

"Good to hear about your dad stepping back into the game." She looked at her fiancé timidly because she has wondered for some time about their future and she needed to get some answers. "Sam, what are you plans after you dad goes back to work completely? Are you going back to Yale?"

Sam took some time to collect his thoughts. "Actually, I don't know. Despite the fact, that my days at the company are long; I sort of like what I do there."

"But… What is going to happen with your goals? Did you forget about them? What happened to the boy who wanted to be a comic book illustrator? Is he somewhere in there?" Mercedes asked troubled.

"Where are you heading with this interrogatory? Are you going to throw in my face that while you're here working on getting your degree, I am wasting my time because I had to drop out of college to help my family?" He snapped. Yes, they had misunderstandings before but this was the first time, since they got back together, that he has spoken to her so harshly.

Mercedes sighed frustratingly. "Sam, that's not what I meant."

"Then, what exactly?"

"Sam, I just don't want you to get involved in something that is going to take away the essence of who you are. You are not the same."

"I'm sorry, Mercedes! I don't have time for this. I'm exhausted." He barked and left the office.

Mercedes stared at her engagement ring, let out a heavy sight and said, "I miss you, Sam!"

XXXXX

The tensions between Sam and Mercedes increased with each passing day but for the outside world, they were a perfect couple. At the business events they attended together, they plastered their best smiles and faked their 'perfect happiness' throughout them. But at the end of each one of them she was overwhelmed by the frustration of feeling like an outsider.

One day and after getting tired of seeing them going through their situations, Sam's mother decided it was time to have a one-on-one with Mercedes.

"Mercedes, may I have a word?"

"Sure."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. Everything is good." Mercedes lied.

"Don't lie to me, young girl."

"Mary, what do you want me to say? You want me to say that my relationship with Sam is going down the drain because we are growing apart and that I don't know what to do to save our relationship?" Mercedes said with a broken voice.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because as a mother, it is my duty to help you and to help Sam." She explained. "Mercedes, being part of this family is not easy, being Sam's fiancée is a hard thing to manage. I am his mother and I know how difficult he can be sometimes."

"But… I'm trying. I'm trying as hard as I can. I just can't seem to get the hang of things."

"You have to be a bit drastic, Mercedes. You have to sacrifice who you are for who you must be."

"Are you trying to tell me that I have to forget about who I am and my goals?"

"Something like that. I am not defending my family, Mercedes. But, a long time ago I was in your position and I had to take a decision. I know you are my son's true happiness but the way things are going, both of you are going to hurt each other severely. Mercedes, you have to make up your mind and you have to do it soon."

XXXXX

Days passed after the conversation and Mary's words echoed in Mercedes mind constantly until one day she realized that she made a mistake following Sam to Tennessee. Yes, she loved him and she wanted to be with him but their worlds were too different to merge.

"You wanted to talk to me, Mercedes?" Sam asked.

"Yes, please come on in." She said.

"Why so sad? What's going on?"

Mercedes avoided Sam's intense gaze because she knew that one good look at his face and she was going to retract from her decision. She stood up, walked towards a shelf and grabbed a recent photo of Sam and his dad.

"I can see how proud you father is of you." She said.

"Yes."

"Sam, this has all been extraordinary, a real life fairytale, even with the bumps. I love you, I really do but I can't do this anymore." She said placing the picture back on the shelf.

"What? What are you saying?" Sam asked choked up.

"I'm saying… I can't stay."

"What's the matter, Mercedes?"

"Sam, when I first met you, I was so focused into what I wanted to do with my life that never in my life I thought that the Sam I met was going to be the same guy I was going to fall in love with. That's the reason I was so scared to let you in when everything between us started to happen." She said with tears in her eyes. "Sam, you got me out of that, which is the greatest thing anyone's ever done for me. But… I'm still me, Mercedes Jones and all the things that I want to do are still a part of me. When I first said yes to marry you, I thought I could make myself forget about that but, I just can't" She said finally looking into his watery eyes and wiping the tears that fell from hers.

Sam could not believe what he was hearing. It was the second time she was breaking things off with him and it hurt deeply. "What about us?"

"Sam, you belong here, not me. More importantly, your father needs you here until everything is sorted out. In addition, you need to stay here for your mother, Stevie and Stacy. They all need you."

"I need you." He whispered.

"If it is in our paths, we will have our time."

"Our time is now, Mercedes."

"No. No, it's not. Life just gave us a chance to meet each other to realize that there is someone out there for us. I will always love you but I can't do this anymore."

"So, is that it? We might or we might not see each other again?"

"Only time will tell. Our future is already written, we just have to wait to see how everything goes."

"I can't make you stay, can I?"

She shook her head.

They both hugged and cried until they both got tired and he decided he was not going to push her into doing something that was going to hurt them in the end. Mercedes returned the ring and by the next morning, she was gone, taking with her the most important part of him: his heart.

* * *

**A/N: **Boohoo! I am a suckie for some drama but I wanted to keep things ad real as I could. Fools rush in, yes, but it does not mean that everything goes exactly the way it is planned.

What is going to happen to the once happy couple? Are they going to make it? Is their love going to fade with the passing of time?

Stay tuned, because there's only one update left for this story...

XOXO


	14. Chapter 14

Hello readers! It is a bittersweet Saturday for me because I'm giving you the last update of this story. It took me a bit longer to finish it because my mind swung from thought to thought and I wanted to give all of you a perfect ending. I really hope that you guys enjoy the update as much as I did writing it. It was a rollercoaster ride that brought a lot of smiles to my days.

I wanted to thank all the readers, just for reading this story, because that's what most important for a writer. To everybody that reviewed the story thank you, because all of you were the ignition that my imagination needed to keep the story flowing. For all the people who followed or faved the story, a big thanks as well.

**This story is dedicated to three very special readers, who chapter after chapter, left me amazing reviews or messages that kept my updating momentum alive. This readers are Zeejack, Krazykay23 and the one and only Ngawai. Thanks for inspiring me every step of the way.

**Disclaimer: **Glee and/or its characters are not mine. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy, his colleagues and Fox. I just love borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

Please forgive all the mistakes...

Don't forget to leave a review... it's the last chapter!

Happy reading...

* * *

Chapter 14

Going back to New Haven was one of the hardest things Mercedes had to endure in her life because it meant facing her new reality, a life without Sam. It's not that she regretted her decision but the fact that her love for him grew every passing minute did not help at all.

"How are you?" Santana said while hugging Mercedes.

"Numb. Please, just take me home." Mercedes replied blankly.

"As you wish, darling."

Mercedes barely spoke during the ride to her apartment, something she was happy to still have, even though Sam wanted her to give up on her lease when the got engaged.

"Mercedes, are you sure you want to stay at your apartment? I didn't clean it thoroughly, because everything happened so fast."

"Yes, I wanna stay. I need my space. Don't worry about the cleaning, I'll take care of that tomorrow. It will give me something to do."

"I hate seeing you like this."

Mercedes shifted uncomfortable on the car seat, she started to look outside the window because she was not ready to talk about what happened with anyone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pour salt on your wound."

Mercedes kept her sight on the window. "Speed up, please. I need to be alone."

XXXXX

Starting a new academic year had a different feeling for Mercedes. She decided to focus her attention completely in her classes but every once in a while her mind lingered in some of the memories from her freshmen year and her time with Sam, like the day she walked to the library for the first time after their break-up. She could not handle herself or the tears because everything around her reminded her of Sam. Working at the café became such heartache for her as well but, she needed to earn some money to pay her bills and she could not quit after Shuester kindly gave her the job back, not caring how she abandoned it in the first place.

"Hi, Mercy." Joe said as he approached her in the locker room.

"Hello, Joe." Mercedes said grimly.

"It's good to have you back. A lot of people missed you." Joe said trying to cheer her up.

"I bet." She replied mockingly.

"I mean it, Mercedes."

"Let's get to work! I don't have time to sit and chitchat. She said harshly.

"Hold on a minute!" Joe said, raising his voice. "What's with the attitude? What happened to you?"

Mercedes finally broke down in tears. "I can't handle being here, Joe. I just cannot. Everything reminds me of Sam, our laughs or our arguments. I mean, there's no way I can look around and not see him; there's no way I can look around and not see us." She said, while Joe wrapped her into a tight hug and comforted her.

XXXXX

Meanwhile in Tennessee, Sam was having a hard time adjusting to Mercedes's absence. After she left, they never spoke again but she was a constant thought in his mind.

"Do you miss her, Sammy?" Stacy asked, when she found him sitting on one of the benches of the gazebo where he asked her to marry him.

"Every moment of everyday." Sam replied.

"I bet she misses you too." She said hopeful. "Good people deserve happy endings, Sammy and I know both of you will have one, together."

"How do you know?"

"Because… You are not a stupid idiot you anymore." She said laughing.

"Speaking like a true grown-up." He said smiling. It was the first time since Mercedes left that he sincerely smiled at something.

XXXXX

It has been a year since Sam and Mercedes parted ways but in some aspects of his life, things were looking up. The winter after Mercedes moved back to New Haven, Sam transferred to the University of Tennessee, changed his major to Visual Arts and Illustration and as soon as January hit, he was back in the college life, even though, he still help at the family business' office from time to time. About the new college, he loved the new ambience but he missed Yale and he missed Mercedes even more. He kept in touch with Mike and Santana and through them; he knew that she was doing fine. He found out she made it into the Dean's List and he could not feel any prouder of her. She deserved all the good in the world.

After a long time hesitating, Sam decided to send Mercedes a letter where he explained her, using the amazing writing skills he was learning at his writing class, how much she still meant to him, how much she changed him, how thankful he was for everything they lived and how she would be present in his thoughts, regardless of the time apart.

He wrote the letter, sent it and wished to make her happy with it, even for a few minutes. What he did not know was that she was going to get the letter after a long time.

XXXXX

The day Santana received the letter was the same day Mercedes decided it was time to move on and forget all about Sam; seeing her friend so determined about it made the Latina decline on giving her the letter. Santana has to give credit to Mercedes for trying, she really did but she was unsuccessful. Sam was the only person who could genuinely make Mercedes smile. Never in that time did Santana saw her smile the way Sam made her. Sam was her light in the darkness of sorrows, her reason to love and the key to her fairytale ending.

After having the letter in her apartment for two years, Santana finally found the perfect moment to give it to her. They were having dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant, celebrating the ending of their undergrad academic careers and Mercedes was finally opening up about Sam.

"Mercedes, that was a sad story but you knew you guys didn't know each other very well, yet, you still accepted his proposal."

"I was blinded by what I felt."

"What you felt? So, that means you don't have feelings for Sam anymore?" Santana asked quizzically.

Mercedes frowned at her friend's questions. "I don't know what I feel anymore. It has been three years, Santana."

"Mercedes, you either feel something or you don't. Love is not ambiguous. When you are hit by love, you know it, because it consumes every fiber of your being and not matter how much time passes, it stays with you until the end of time." Mercedes looked at Santana with eyes wide open. "See… I always manage to get the truth out of you and your facial expression is giving me the answer I needed."

Mercedes glanced at her unfinished dinner. "What does it matter, San? He's probably in a stable relationship by now, living his perfect southern life; while I am here lingering to something that is never going to happen again." Mercedes snapped bitterly.

"What if I tell you that you're wrong? What if I tell you that he asks about you when we talk? Would you believe me?" Santana said hopeful. In that moment, Santana gave her friend the letter.

"What is this?" Mercedes asked nervously.

"The answer to some of your questions. The only issue that I was supposed to give you this two years ago but I didn't because you were so determined to forget him I got scared thinking you were never going to read it." Santana confessed. "That action got me in a lot of trouble."

Mercedes took the envelope and she opened it as fast as she could, even though she was shaking like a leaf.

"You don't have to read it here."

"I have to. Last time I read something he left me, I ended up in Tennessee. At least, this time you would be here to stop me."

As soon as Mercedes unfolded the letter, tears filled her eyes. As Santana told her the letter was dated two years earlier, which meant that, he wrote the letter a year after they broke up. Line after line, Mercedes felt the heaviness of the feelings he felt when he wrote it.

_Dear Mercedes, _

_Today marks a profound, though bittersweet, milestone for me; as I bear witness to both, an end and a beginning. An end because after a long time expecting a miracle, I know that for now it is not going to happen but I am happy for the new beginning because I am following my dreams just like you wanted me to do. While I must continue on, I must also admit to have been blessed with someone like you, who so capably guided me to where I am today. _

_Where there has been so much love and happiness for someone it is natural to be reluctant to close such wonderful chapter in my life but moving forward is rarely accomplished without a considerable amount of grief and sadness. While my sorrow may be profound, I know, the clouds will clear and the sun will shine on me again, and in that warm, bright light I will find myself facing a glorious future. A future of exciting challenges and infinite possibilities in which the horizon will stretch out before me rimmed in the heavenly glow of the sunshine of my tomorrow. _

_I want you to know that I mean every single world I say in this letter and every single world I said to you when we were together. You are everything I need and I will always keep some sort of hope that we will find a way to each other again. Until then, I wish you the best in life and all the happiness you deserve. _

_I love you and I always will, _

_Sam_

After she read the letter one more time, Mercedes understood that Sam felt the same way she did, empty and incomplete. However, what was she going to do? That letter was from two years ago and she did not have an idea about how he felt now. Life and its complicated games.

XXXXX

After a long and boring graduation ceremony, Santana's mother could not stop taking pictures of their grown-up babies.

"Can we get the girls together for another group shot?" Santana's mother, Maribel, asked.

"_¿Mamá, más fotos? __No. ¡Por favor!" _Santana whined in Spanish.

"Please, _mija_! This is a moment, we are not going to relive again. Let me enjoy it."

"Ok, ok… Whatever!" Santana said, rolling her eyes. "Mercedes, Brittany… mom wants us to pose for another group picture!"

Mercedes and Brittany approached a severely annoyed Santana. "Baby, let her have her moment. She's just very proud of you." Brittany whispered in her girlfriend's ear. "I will be very giving tonight if you behave properly now." She added seductively.

"Wanky!" Santana replied because she knew exactly what her girlfriend meant.

The girls posed for an infinite amount of pictures and they were secretly glad when the battery of the camera died. The photoshoot was getting a bit out of control. Immersed in the conversations, they did not notice a car parked nearby and someone got out of it and approached them.

"_Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful."_ The person said from behind.

A smile formed in her mouth as she turned around and found smiling Sam, standing in front of her. His hair was longer than before and his face features looked more mature. The guy standing in front of her was definitely not the guy, she met four years ago. Mercedes glimpsed at her friends, who were giggling like partners in crime. They were definitely guilty of all charges.

Mercedes walked towards Sam, still not believing he was standing there after all the time they had been apart. They looked at each other tenderly, indulging on each other's presence and for the first time Mercedes was the one breaking the long silence.

"Shakespeare?" She said playfully.

"It seemed right to bring the old man back." Sam replied and they fell in another comfortable silence.

"I want you in my life, Mercedes." Said Sam breaking the silence. She smiled in disbelief. "I want to marry you and if that means that I have to wait until you finish law school, become a lawyer and anything else you want to do, then I'll do it. I mean it. Not having you in my life all these years was a torture and I am upset I didn't decide to fight for you sooner but, here I am and I am willing to fight for us." Sam declared. "I mean it, Mercedes. I'll wait until you make all your dreams come true."

"Sam… your family, your friends, the people you rub shoulders with back in Tennessee are not ready to see you with someone like me." Mercedes stated.

"Well… then, they'll have to be."

"Why?"

"Because I am." Sam said staring at her. Then, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her passionately in hopes of the start of a new beginning that could led them to a beautiful, happy and successful fairytale ending.

* * *

**A/N: **Well... This is it! I sincerely hope that you guys loved the story as much as I loved writing it. For those of you wondering and to the angry guest reviewer, who left me a very hurtful review... This story is based on the movie "The Prince and Me" starring Julia Stiles and Luke Mably, also some of the dialogue comes from the movie.

I will start working on _**You Belong With Me** _very soon. Fingers crossed!

Blessings and Love...

Until We Meet Again,

XOXO


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